The Synod

The XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, featuring 363 voting members — including laymen and womenfor the first time — will convene at the Vatican Oct. 4-29 to advise the Pope on the theme: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission.”

The Synod on Synodality is Pope Francis’ initiative for the Catholic Church to collaboratively chart its path in the modern era, emphasizing listening, discernment and mission.

The global meetings in Rome are the culmination of two years of preparation. In some of his more recent comments on synodality, Pope Francis said, “speaking of a ‘Synod on Synodality’ may seem something abstract, self-referential, excessively technical, of little interest to the general public,” but it is “something truly important for the Church… There is no place for ideology in the synod. It’s another dynamic.
The synod is dialogue between baptized people in the name of the Church, on the life of the Church, on dialogue with the world, on the problems that affect humanity today. But when you think along an ideological path, the synod ends.”

For more information, please visit synod.va/en or see the display in the Narthex.

PRAY FOR THE SYNOD