REPRESENTATIVES of the world’s Catholic bishops, meeting together in a synod, are not expected to make any formal proposals about the Church’s pastoral care of families until after a second, larger gathering in 2015.
The extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family will meet at the Vatican from October 5-19, bringing together the presidents of national bishops’ conferences, the heads of Eastern Catholic churches and Vatican officials. The world Synod of Bishops, which will include more bishops – many elected by their peers – will meet at the Vatican from October 4-25, 2015.
Introducing the working document for the first synod assembly – formally an “extraordinary” synod – Synod of Bishops general secretary Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri said participants “will thoroughly examine and analyse the information, testimonies and recommendations received” from around the world in response to a questionnaire sent out in November.
The responses to the questionnaire, submitted by about 90 per cent of the world’s bishops’ conferences and about 800 Catholic organisations or individuals, formed the basis for the working document for the extraordinary assembly.
The results of the extraordinary assembly would form the basis for the working document for the 2015 meeting, Cardinal Baldisseri said.
The general assembly in 2015, “representing a great part of the episcopate and continuing the work of the previous synod, will reflect further on the points discussed so as to formulate appropriate pastoral guidelines”, he said.
Only the suggestions of the 2015 synod would be forwarded to the Pope as formal proposals for Church action, Cardinal Baldisseri said.
The theme of the extraordinary synod is: “The pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelisation”. Cardinal Baldisseri said there would be about 190 voting members, plus “fraternal delegates” from other Christian churches as well as observers and experts appointed by Pope Francis.
At a news conference on June 26, Cardinal Baldisseri announced that the theme of the 2015 synod would be: “Jesus Christ reveals the mystery and vocation of the family”. That gathering, he said, was expected to include about 250 voting members.
In a letter to families in February, Pope Francis explained that the “extraordinary synodal assembly will be followed a year later by the ordinary assembly, which will also have the family as its theme”.
The Pope also noted that the World Meeting of Families would take place in Philadelphia in September 2015; “may we all, then, pray together so that through these events the Church will undertake a true journey of discernment and adopt the necessary pastoral means to help families face their present challenges with the light and strength that comes from the Gospel”.
Cardinal Baldisseri announced that Catholics around the world would be asked to observe a day of prayer for the synod and its deliberations on September 28.
Italian Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto, chosen by Pope Francis to be the special secretary of the extraordinary synod, told reporters on June 26, “the doctrine of the Church is not up for discussion”, but the synod members would be called upon to find ways to improve the “pastoral application” of Church teachings, ways to explain it and to help Catholics live it.
CNS
