Preparing for the Synod on the Family

The Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops met in Rome on May 13 and 14 in order to analyze the first draft of the Instrumentum laboris (working document) being prepared for the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod which will take place this coming October and which will focus on the question of the Family.  On Tuesday, the Holy Father presided over the meeting of the Council.

• Preparatory document Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the context of Evangelization

His Eminence, Lorenzo Cardinal Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Council welcomed the Holy Father at the beginning of the meeting, by expressing his gratitude for the Holy Father's letter dated April 1 of this year, with which His Holiness conferred episcopal character on the Under-secretary, His Excellency, Fabio Fabene as a gesture of reinforcing even more the affective and effective collegiality which is an integral part of the Synod of Bishops.

The draft of the Instrumentum laboris was examined in depth and suggestions put forward during the discussion are now being included.  Once the Instrumentum has been completed, it will be shared with Episcopal Conferences throughout the world.  An outline of a new process which will be followed during the Extraordinary General Assembly was also presented.

Present for these two days of discussions, other than the members of the Ordinary Council, the Relator General, His Excellency, Péter Cardinal Erdő; and the Special Secretary, His Excellency, Bruno Forte were Cardinals André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris and Raymundo Damasceno Assis, Archbishop of Aparecida and President of the Episcopal Conference of Brazil.  Also invited to participate in the II Extraordinary General Assembly were two President Delegates and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila.