This morning in the Synod Hall at the Vatican, following the greetings that were offered by His Holiness, Pope Francis, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri presented his report.
Most Holy Father,
Eminences, Beatitudes, Excellencies,
Brothers and sisters,
With joy and much emotion I take the floor at the beginning of the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated to The vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and in the modern world. On behalf of the Synod Fathers, I wish to sincerely thank Your Holiness for having desired to entrust to the Synod, reflection on such an important and universal issue, which affects not only Catholics, but all Christians and the whole of humanity, and which for these reasons finds itself at the centre of the pastoral mission of the Church. As, in fact, is pointed out in the preamble to the Constitution Gaudium et Spes, written during the Second Vatican Council, the fiftieth anniversary of the closure of which we are about to celebrate: the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anguishes of the people of our time, above all the poor and those who are afflicted, are also the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anguishes of the disciples of Christ, and there is nothing genuinely human that does not find an echo in their hearts (Vatican Council II, Gaudium et spes, 1)
In the Holy Father's speech during the Prayer Vigil in preparation for the III Extraordinary General Assembly last October (2014), we find an echo of these words and an application of the theme of our reflection: It is significant that, even in this individualistic culture which distorts and creates ephemeral ties - in everyone born of a woman, there remains alive an essential need for stability, for an open door, for everyone with whom we can develop and share the story of life, a story that we can call our own. The communion of life which is assumed by spouses, their openness to the gift of life, reciprocal care, the encounter and the memory of generations, educational support, the transmission of the Christian faith to children … with this entire family which continues to be a school of humanity without equal, contributes in an indispensable way to a just and fraternal society.
I wish to address a respectful greeting to the members of the Synod Assembly, gathered here as a representation of the entire Catholic episcopate. According to the Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, the leaders of the Eastern Catholic Church sui iuris, Bishops elected by the Synods of Bishops and by the Councils of the Hierarchy of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Bishops elected by their Conferences of Bishops, ten Religious elected by the Union of Superiors General and the Heads of the various Dicasteries of the Roman Curia (Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 5, paragraph 1) can participate in this assembly. In addition, a certain number of others can be added by the Holy Father (Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 5, paragraph 4).
All together, there are 270 Synod Fathers participating in this gathering, as well as 42 ex officio (15 Patriarchs, Major Archbishops and Metropolitans of the Metropolitan Churches sui iris from the Eastern Catholic Churches; 25 Heads of Dicasteries from the Roman Curia; the Secretary-General and the Under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops), 183 elected participants and 45 appointed by the Pope.
Among the members, there are 74 Cardinals (including one Patriarch and 2 Major Archbishops), 6 Patriarchs, 1 Major Archbishop, 72 Archbishops (of which 3 are titular Archbishops), 102 Bishops (among which, 6 are Auxiliaries, 3 are Apostolic Vicars and 1 is emeritus), 2 Diocesan priests (both of whom are pastors) and 13 Religious.
Our assembly is large and complex, a wonderful fresco of the catholicity of the Church, in which is reflected the feelings and resonance of voices from all the continents. This Synodal gathering - the Holy Father recently affirmed - possesses a world-wide breath, that corresponds to the universal dimension of Christianity, but also to the universal scope of this fundamental and indispensable human community which is precisely the family (Pope Francis, General Audience, 16 September 2015). At the same time, since the Synod of Bishops acts cum Petro et sub Petro, leader and guardian of the one flock of Christ, he also becomes a particular manifestation of the unity of the Catholic Church built upon the foundation of the Apostles, among whom, Simon Peter is the rock (cf Mt 16:18), the disciple chosen by the Master to confirm the brothers in the one faith (cf Lk 22:32).
The words recently spoken by the Holy Father to the Bishops of the United States of America exhort us, as Fathers of the Church, to work constantly in unity and for unity: The great mission which the Lord gives us - the Pope affirmed - is one which we carry out in communion, collegially … The Church, the seamless garment of the Lord cannot allow herself to be rent, broken or fought over. Our mission as bishops is first and foremost to solidify unity, a unity whose content is defined by the Word of God and the one Bread of Heaven (Pope Francis, Speech to the Bishops of the United States of America, 23 September 2015).
Our ministry - Pope Francis declared, while addressing the Bishops who attended the VIII World Meeting of Families - needs to develop the covenant of the Church and of the family … God grants us the gift of this new closeness between the family and the Church. Families need it, the Church needs it, and we pastors need it (Pope Francis, Speech to the Bishops visiting at the VIII World Meeting of Families, 27 September 2015).
I also cordially greet the 14 Fraternal Delegates, representing the other Christian ecclesial communities, whose presence renews in us the desire to work together toward the full visible unity of the Church of Christ, aware the even on such a significant theme as the family, all Christians are called to find and to travel along a common path, so that their united witness might be credible in the eyes of the world.
Thank you also to the 24 experts, designated in virtue of their competence to contribute to the work of the Synod as collaborators with the Special Secretary, and to the 51 Auditors, from every corner of the planet. Among them are included many specialists and workers in the pastoral care of families, but above all - as was the case last year - many married couples, called to enrich the Synod with their daily experience of family life, made up of joys and also of trials: to be precise, there are 17 married couples among the Auditors and one among the Experts. Significant among them, is the presence of women, from whom we anticipate a special contribution so that the Synod might also examine the family with the tender, attentive and compassionate eye of a woman.
Finally, a special note of gratitude is offered to the Press, to the assistants, the translators, the technical staff, as well as the Officials and the Collaborators from the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, who - also thanks to the competent coordination of the Under-secretary, His Excellency, Fabio Fabene - have worked with diligence to prepare this Assembly, and who will be called upon during the entire duration, to continue their generous efforts.
A moment of grace for the life of the Church
The XIV Ordinary General Assembly is taking place in a moment of special grace for the entire Church. First, because we are celebrating fifty years since the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. It was, to quote a happy expression of Saint John Paul II, the great grace bestowed upon the Church during the twentieth century: in it, we find a sure compass to orient us along the journey through the century that is beginning (Saint John Paul II, Novo millennia ineunte, 6 January 2001, 57). Already, in the Message to the People of God from the II Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, convoked on the occasion of the XX anniversary of its closure, the Synod Fathers expressed the conviction that that Ecumenical Council was a gift of God to the Church and to the world, seeing in it, a font offered by the Holy Spirit to the Church for today and for tomorrow (II Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Message to the People of God, 7 December 1985, 1).
From the distance of half a century, the Second Vatican Council remains for us - as Benedict XVI affirmed in more recent times - a strong call to rediscover every day the beauty of our faith, to know it in a profound way in order to have a more intense relationship with the Lord, to live the depths of our Christian vocation (Benedict XVI, General Audience, 10 October 2012).
Second, what we are living is a moment of grace because the Synod of Bishops is also marking the important milestone of the fiftieth anniversary of its establishment, which through the will of the Holy Father will be solemnly commemorated on the morning of October 17. According to the mind of Blessed Paul VI, who instituted the Synod of Bishops on 15 September 1965, the Synod should perpetuate within the Church the spirit of Vatican II, in order that even after the conclusion of that gathering, the great abundance of benefits might continue to reach the Christian people, who during the Council had come from the living union of the Supreme Pontiff with the Bishops (Blessed Paul VI, Motu proprio, Apostolica solicitudo, 15 September 1965, Preamble).
Third, the Synodal Assembly takes place in the weeks leading up to the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, called by Pope Francis on April 11 of this year, and therefore it receives a particular light and a precise orientation. The lintel that supports the life of the Church - the Holy Father proclaimed in the Bull of Induction - is mercy. All her pastoral actions should be wrapped in the tenderness with which she addresses all believers; nothing of her proclamation and of her witness borne to the world can be deprived of mercy. The credibility of the Church passes through the ways of merciful and compassionate love (Pope Francis, Misericordiae vultus, 11 April 2015, 10).
The long Synodal journey on the family
Looking back at the recent past, we struggle to see that the Synodal Assembly takes place at the end of a long journey, of which we are now called to reap the rewards.
The intent we are pursuing is to proclaim with joy and conviction the 'good' news of the family, knowing -as was already expressed by Saint John Paul II after the V Ordinary General Assembly of the 1980 Synod, which was also dedicated to the Christian family - that the future of humanity passes through the family (Saint John Paul II, Post-synodal exhortation, Familiaris consortio, 22 November 1981, 86). At a time in which - as the Holy Father has recently declared - the family is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without, we want to reawaken the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life (Pope Francis, Speech to the Congress of the United States of America, 24 September 2015).
The Synodal journey began in 2013, shortly after the election to the papacy of Pope Francis. In fact, already in the audience granted to the then Secretary General of the Synod, His Excellency, Nikola Eterović on 4 July of that year, the Holy Father, after having taken into consideration the proposals advanced by the XIII Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat, indicated for the next Synodal Assembly a theme which would concern the vocations of persons and of the human family. Then, in a later audience granted to the Secretary General, which took place on 23 August 2013, His Holiness decided to convene the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme of the pastoral challenges facing the family. Finally, after the appointment of the new Secretary General and the further convening of the Ordinary Council of the Secretariat, which established the Lineamenta in view of the Assembly, on 8 October 2013, Pope Francis officially indicated that the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops would take place between 5 and 19 October of the following year on the theme: The pastoral challenges facing the family in the context of evangelization.
According to the Ordo Synodi, the calling of an Extraordinary General Assembly responds to the need to treat any matter which, for the good of the universal Church, requires an immediate definition (Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 4). The family appears, in fact, due to its crucial importance and by reason of the great transformations which affect it, an urgent theme for the mission of the Church. To every mode, already on the following 5 November, on the occasion of the presentation of the Lineamenta, it was announced that the Extraordinary General Assembly of 2014 would be followed, in October 2015, by an Ordinary General Assembly, once again on the theme of the family, since for its relevance it required doctrine, prudence and the recommendations of the entire Catholic episcopacy (Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 4).
The unprecedented initiative to deal with the same theme in two stages, the fruit of the pastoral creativity of Pope Francis, has suddenly aroused an extraordinary interest in the Church, as well as large sectors of civil society. Meanwhile, on 29 December 2013, on the occasion of the Feast of the Holy Family, celebrated with particular solemnity in some places of Christianity which are linked to it in a special way (Nazareth, Loretto and Barcelona), the Holy Father confided to the entire Church the task of accompanying the synodal journey with constant prayer.
A prelude to the work of the Synod was offered by the Extraordinary Consistory of the College of Cardinals, which on February 20 and 21, 2014, met under the presidency of the Holy Father to hold a common reflection on the theme of the family, also in the light of an introductory report presented by His Eminence, Cardinal Walter Kasper, President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Unity of Christians. Shortly afterward, on February 24 and 25, the fifth meeting of te XIII Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod examined the draft of the Instrumentum laboris in view of the Extraordinary General Assembly, prepared on the basis of responses to the Lineamenta, while on February 25 the Letter addressed by Pope Francis to families, explaining the meaning of the Synod was published.
After the final approval of the Instrumentum laboris, during the sixth convocation of the Ordinary Council of the Secretariat on 13 and 14 May 2014, and its publication on 26 June of that same year, the III Extraordinary General Assembly was held exactly three years ago. The conclusions drawn during that encounter were gathered to form the Relatio Synodi which was voted upon on Saturday, 18 October 2014. This was the first crucial step - or, if you prefer, the first fundamental step - in the synodal journey which began in 2013.
At the conclusion of the Extraordinary General Assembly, Pope Francis wished that the final document should be immediately published, together with the results of the voting on individual numbers. The Relatio Synodi reflected the richness of the interventions provided by the Synod Fathers in all their variety, requiring an additional consideration in view of the Ordinary General Assembly.
On the same day, October 18, the Holy Father officially announced that the Relatio Synodi would constitute the text of the Lineamenta in preparation for the Synod of October 2015: Dear brothers and sisters - he affirmed in his Speech held in this very Hall - now, we still have one year ... to work on the Relatio Synodi which is the faithful and clear summary of all that has been said and discussed in this Hall and in the small groups. It is presented to the Episcopal Conferences as the Lineamenta (Pope Francis, Speech at the conclusion of the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, 18 October 2014).
In the meanwhile, on the occasion of the 11th General Congregation, held on the preceding 13 October, an indication of the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod had already been formally indicated, on the theme: The vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and in the modern world.
Preparations for the XIV Ordinary General Assembly
At the conclusion of the Extraordinary General Assembly, the General Secretariat immediately set to work, following the Pope's decision, by convoking the VIII meeting of the Ordinary Council of the Secretariat, which took place on November 18 and 19 under the presidency of the Holy Father. On that occasion, the Lineamenta for the Ordinary General Assembly was launched, comprised of the Relatio Synodi as well as 46 questions which sought to discover the reception and to encourage the deepening of its subject matter in the universal Church. On the following December 9, the document was sent to the Synod of the Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris, to the Episcopal Conferences, to the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia and to other entitled persons, long with an invitation to return their responses by April 15, 2015.
Meanwhile, already on 21 November 2014, the first appointments by the Holy Father in view of the Synodal Assembly were published, including the names of the President-delegates, the Relator General and the Special Secretary. With respect to the Extraordinary General Assembly, the number of President-delegates - who had the task of presiding over the Assembly in the name of and by authority of the Roman Pontiff (Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 2). - was raised from three to four: including Cardinals André Vingt-Trois, Luis Antonio G. Tagle, and Raymundo Damasceno Assis, who already had exercised this office in October 2014, as well as Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, OFM, Archbishop of Durban, South Africa. As to the Relator General and the Special Secretary, the Holy Father appointed respectively, His Eminence, Cardinal Péter Erdõ, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest (Hungary) and His Excellency, Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto (Italy), who had exercised the same functions during the Extraordinary General Assembly. This decision by the Holy Father was intended to further emphasize the continuity between the two Synodal Assemblies as part of a single process of shared reflection.
Despite the tight timeframe, the considerable number of contributions received by the General Secretariat during the first part of this year confirmed the extraordinary interest shown in the theme and the active participation of all the People of God. The inter-Synodal period proved to be an additional valuable opportunity for auditus Ecclesiae (listening to the Church), or better, of listening to 'what the Spirit is saying to the Churches' (Rev 2:17) in the multiplicity of their components, especially through the voices of Christian families. It is they, in fact, who have felt more than any other that the Synod res nostra agitur: is concerned about them, wants to address them above all else, seeks to encourage them in their enthusiastic and at the same time, difficult journey.
In all, the General Secretariat received 102 responses from eligible sources. To these were added more than 400 observations, submitted freely by dioceses and parishes, Ecclesial Associations and spontaneous groups of the faithful, Movements and civic organizations, family nuclei and single believers. At the same time, Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties, other academic institutions, Centres of research and specialists in various disciplines also enriched the depth of the Synod theme with contributions and studies, often shedding light on new aspects, as requested by the questions previous to the Lineamenta. At the same time, the General Secretariat availed itself of the help of new Consultors, appointed on 14 March of this year, and the counsel of numerous other experts. To this was added, in recent months, an ample number of publications and conferences on the theme of the family, addressed from many points of view: historical, anthropological, cultural, psychological, sociological, biblical, dogmatic, moral, juridical, political, economic ... to mention only the main areas of reflection. Among all these contributions, special mention should be made - because of its expertise - of the Pontifical Council for the Family, as well as those from other institutions within the Roman Curia and from various Episcopal Conferences.
Essentially, it was then the contributions offered by the Holy Father himself, who in the Wednesday General Audiences and on many other occasions authoritatively accompanied the common journey during eh past year. Thus, beginning the cycle of his catecheses on the family, he affirmed on 17 December 2014: The Synod of Bishops on the Family, which was recently celebrated, represented the first step in a journey which will conclude next October with the celebration of another Assembly on the theme: The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the world. Prayer is the reflection that should accompany this journey which is shared by all of God's people. My wish is that these meditations from the Wednesday audiences may be included in this common journey. I have therefore decided to reflect with you, during this coming year, on the family, this great gift which hte Lord gave to the world from the beginning, when he confided to Adam and Eve the mission of multiplying and filling the earth (cf Gn 1:28). This is the gift that Jesus confirmed and sealed in his gospel.
During the ninth meeting of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat, which took place on 25 and 26 May of this year, under the presidency of the Holy Father, the draft of the Instrumentum laboris for the Ordinary General Assembly was presented, a document which, once examined and approved by that same Council, was published the following 23 June. This text proves to be original in its very structure. On one hand, in fact, it welcomes the 2014 Relatio Synodi, leaving it unchanged, for it is a document which has already been voted upon by the Synod Assembly and has been published according to the wishes of the Holy Father. On the other hand, certain paragraphs from the Relatio, made graphically recognizable by the numbers in brackets and by the characters written in italics, have been combined with several paragraphs of the new document, the result of the work of synthesizing the responses, observations and contributions received from all corners of the world.
The Instrumentum laboris, which reliably respects the perceptions and expectations of the Church on the important theme of the family, is composed in three parts, which by reason of their succession demonstrate the continuity between the two synodal steps: in the first part (Listening to the challenges facing the family) draws more directly from the 2014 Assembly, the second part (The discernment of the vocation of a family) and the third part (The mission of the family today) seek above all to introduce the theme of the present Assembly, with the objective of offering the Church and the modern world pastoral stimuli for a renewed evangelization.
On September 8 of this year, the Holy Father then promulgated two Apostolic letters in the form of motu proprio, entitled Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et misericors Iesus, concerning reforms to the canonical process for the causes of declarations of nullity of marriage, respectively in the Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Taking account of the consensus that was reached during the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod - which had urged faster and more accessible processes - a consensus that was confirmed during the inter-synodal period by more in-depth maturity of the Lineamenta, Pope Francis offered in this document certain provisions for favouring - as he himself had declared - not the nullity of marriage, but the acceleration of the processes, not merely a simplification. Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, the Supreme Pontiff has therefore established that causes for nullity of marriage are dealt with through judicial and not through administrative processes, not because this is required by the nature of the circumstances, but rather because it calls for the protection of the sacred bond to the maximum degree (Pope Francis, Apostolic Letter issued motu proprio, Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus, 8 September 2015, Preamble; see also the Apostolic Letter issued motu proprio, Mitis et misericors Iesus, 8 settembre 2015, Preamble).
Finally, almost at the end of the long synodal journey, in Philadelphia, the VIII World Meeting of Families was celebrated only a few days ago. On that occasion, Pope Francis emphasized, among other things, the essential role of the family for passing on the faith. His Holiness affirmed that: our families, our homes, are true domestic churches. They are the right place for faith to become life, and life to grow in faith, and he assured us that Anyone who wants to bring into this world a family which teaches children to be excited by every gesture aimed at overcoming evil – a family which shows that the Spirit is alive and at work – will encounter our gratitude and our appreciation. Whatever the family, people, religion or region to which they belong! (Pope Francis, Homily for the Closing Mass of the VIII World Meeting of Families, Philadelphia, 27 September 2015).
The methodology of the Synod
Yesterday morning, with the solemn Eucharistic celebration presided over by the Holy Father in the Vatican Basilica, the second stage of the synodal itinerary, begun in 2013 was officially opened. This is a stage which is at the same time the culmination and the final phase of the process. In the three weeks of intense work that begin today, the Instrumentum laboris constitutes not only a point of departure for our reflection and discussion, but the base text that will be elaborated into the Relatio finalis, which at the conclusion of our work will incorporate the results of the preceding Extraordinary General Assembly, the contributions which were received during the inter-synodal period and the authoritative contributions during this Ordinary General Assembly.
What we will experience, thus becomes the culminating moment of a long journey which takes account of the precious legacy of ideas and reflections that have emerged so far in view of continually deepening our understanding, in order to achieve the objective assigned by the Holy Father to this Ordinary General Assembly since last year: to mature, with true spiritual discernment, the proposed ideas and to find concrete solutions to so many difficulties and innumerable challenges that families must confront; to give answers to the many discouragements that surround and suffocate families (Pope Francis, Speech at the conclusion of the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, 18 October 2014).
To facilitate this, the methodology of the Synod activity was partially updated, and now takes into account the experience acquired during the 2014 Assembly, as well as the suggestions submitted by the members of that Assembly. The objective was to make it more agile, dynamic and effective at carrying out the work, emphasizing especially the work accomplished in the working groups, in which the limited number of participants and the linguistic homogeneity led to open dialogue, the sharing of ideas and the maturation of consensus. Given the importance that they invested, it was considered necessary that more ample time be dedicated to the working groups.
Let me now briefly explain the way in which the work will take place, with reference (for study purposes) to the handbook that was provided to all Synod Fathers and to other participants in this Assembly, which also includes the timetable for this work. Prepared by the General Secretariat on the basis of the Ordo Synodi, this handbook contains complete and detailed information about the procedure for this Assembly's activities and an indispensable instrument for following the proceedings.
At the conclusion of my intervention, Cardinal Péter Erdõ, who prepared the General Relation, will take the floor. Then, the synodal activity will be explained on the basis of the tripartite division of the Instrumentum laboris: in this way, we will have three working units before us; each one of them will take into consideration one of the parts into which the document is divided. At the beginning of each of these units, there will be a brief presentation of the theme to be undertaken; followed by an intervention by a married couple who are Auditors, who will offer their testimony of family life; then the interventions of the Synod Fathers will begin, following the order of presentations according to the requests which arrived through the presentation request forms which were previously distributed.
Each Synod Father has the ability to speak only once during the Assembly, by choosing one of the three working units in order to expose the part of the Instrumentum laboris that he prefers. The number of those having the right to speak being elevated (318 of the Fathers, Fraternal Delegates and Auditors) and having given much space to the working groups (13 sessions), each will be allowed to intervene in the Hall for a maximum of three minutes, while in the working groups, there will be ample time for speaking. Moreover, as in the past, some of the General Congregations will provide time, lasting up to an hour each, dedicated to free interventions by the Fathers. At the same time, it is always possible to present ideas to the General Secretariat, written texts in addition to the printed and computer generated texts which will be spoken.
At the conclusion of the General Congregations, the interventions of the Synod Fathers will be combined into a synthesis, which will form a supplement to the Instrumentum laboris. This task is entrusted to the Relator General and to the Special Secretary, each of whom is duly assisted by experts (Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 7, paragraph 1).
The synthesis of the interventions, organized according to the structure of the Instrumentum laboris, will be promptly translated and delivered in each of the working groups, the total of which will be thirteen: four in English, three in French, three in Italian, two in Spanish-Portuguese and one in German. In the light of the reflections and the discussions about the texts received, the working groups will elaborate the collective modes of the Instrumentum laboris as they see fit. Returning to the Hall, the respective Relators will present the synthesized reports concerning the work accomplished in the working groups and provide the General Secretariat with a report of the discussion which took place in the working groups concerning any needed amendments to the text.
In each working group - that is to say, for each of the three parts of the Instrumentum laboris - the examination of the modes will be coordinated by the General Relator who will work closely with the Special Secretary, the Experts and the Relators from the working groups.
In addition, on Friday, 16 October, the synod reflections will be enriched by the reception of reports from the Fraternal Delegates, who will speak in the morning, and by Auditors who will intervene in the afternoon.
As it was for the last Extraordinary General Assembly, the Holy Father has instituted the Commission for the elaboration of the Final Report. This Commission is composed of the Relator General (who will preside), the Secretary General, the Special Secretary and seven Synod Fathers who have been appointed by the Pope (one from each continent, considering separately North and South America, Latin America and the Caribbean, plus one Religious). Also in the light of the experience which has matured since the Extraordinary General Assembly of 2014, this Commission will have the task of coordinating and overseeing the drafting of the synod texts, in their various phases of completion until the final Synod document is complete.
At the conclusion of each unit of work, having completed the reception of the modes presented by the working groups, this Commission will meet to proceed to the redaction of the corresponding section of the Relatio finalis (final report). The calendar of the synod's work does not establish with great precision the chronology of the meetings for this Commission, in order to guarantee the necessary time for the integration of all the various parts. However, it will be up to the General Secretary to convoke, from time to time, the members of the Commission.
At the conclusion of the third unit of work, the Commission will meet once more to elaborate the draft of the final report, the result of the collegial work which, beginning with the Instrumentum laboris, has benefitted from the constructive interventions in the Synod Hall, the reports of the Fraternal Delegates and those of the Auditors as well as the work accomplished in the working groups.
On the morning of the 22 October, the draft will be presented in the Hall and consigned to the Synod Fathers for their evaluation. In the General Congregation held on that afternoon, it will be possible for the Fathers to intervene one last time, either in oral form or b presenting a written copy of their text to the General Secretariat.
Bearing in mind that the draft of the Final Report will be the result of the combination of three texts which have already been implemented by the collective modes of the working groups - the reports having been read in the Hall and then published - further action will have to be advanced in accordance with the collective work conducted so far.
Subsequently, the said Commission will oversee the elaboration of the definitive text of the Relatio finalis, which will be presented in the Synod Hall on the morning of Saturday, 24 October, and in the afternoon, will be submitted to a vote on the part of the members of the Assembly. In conformity with the nature of the Synod, this Relatio, the result of the work of the Synod, will finally be presented to the Supreme Pontiff, who has the competence to make any decisions the report should merit (Code of Canon Law, 343; Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 23, paragraph 4).
Once again, I wish to point out that since this is an Ordinary General Assembly, the Ordo Synodi provides that during the meeting, we should proceed to the election of a new Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod, the XIV, which will remain in office until the next Ordinary General Assembly. The election will take place in two phases, on Tuesday, 20 October and on Thursday, 22 October, according to a procedure which will be explained in due time. The Synod Fathers will be called upon to elect from among themselves, twelve Members of the Council: three from Europe, three from the Americas, three from Africa, three from Asia and Oceania. Another three Members will be appointed by the Holy Father.
Pope Francis has reminded us that the Synod is not a parliament, but a protected space within which the Holy Spirit can work. What happens is a comparison between bishops, which takes place following long periods of preparatory work, which then continues in a another form for the good of the family, the Church and society. This is a process, it is the normal synodal way (Pope Francis, General Audience, 10 December 2014). These words offer us precious indications also for that which concerns information about the activity of the Synod.
As to the media coverage of news relating to the work of the Synod, the method adopted last year is substantially confirmed. This service will be managed by the Press Office of the Holy See in consultation with the Synod Commission for information. His Excellency, Claudio Maria Celli will be part of this Synod Commission and serve as its President, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ will serve as its Secretary and there will also be three Synod Fathers, proposed by the President of the Commission and approved by the President-Delegates.
The principal source of information will be the daily Briefings coordinated by the Director of the Press Office: some of the Synod Fathers will also participate in these briefings as indicated from time to time by the Commission for information. Their number will be increased compared to last year. Also this year, through the dedicated Twitter account, the most important news concerning the progress of the work of the Synod will be transmitted in synthesis.
The Synod Fathers will be free to communicate with the media at their own discretion and responsibility, maintaining the necessary confidentiality as to debates within the Hall and in the working groups. From time to time, the reports presented in the working groups will be published, while the various stages of preparation of the final document will remain confidential, since the text is susceptible to continual development until its final draft is complete.
Praying for the Synod
Since the beginning of the Synod path, Pope Francis has called the entire Church to trusting and constant prayer. To this end, he himself composed a prayer, which was distributed on 29 December 2013, to confide the work of the Synod to the Holy Family of Nazareth, in the belief that the shining example of Jesus, Mary and Joseph commits us to the vocation and the mission of the family (Pope Francis, General Audience, 17 December 2014).
As we did last year, we wanted the work of the Synod to be supported with constant prayer in the Roman Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Thanks to the collaboration of the Diocese of Rome, the faithful can pray every day for the Synod in the chapel of the Virgin Mary, Salus Populi Romani. In that same place, the relics of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus and those of her parents, Blessed Zélie and Louis Martin, will be displayed. On Sunday, 18 October, coinciding with World Mission Sunday, Pope Francis will canonize, among others, the Martin spouses, presenting them to the world as an outstanding model of family holiness.
In addition, as of today, in the chapel adjacent to this Hall, we participants in the Synod can also venerate the relics of Saint Teresa of Lisieux, those of her parents and those of the Blessed married couple Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi.
At the beginning of the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, after having invoked the Holy Spirit with the chanting of the Veni Creator, we wish once again to implore the Spirit's aid - through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church and Queen of the family - that we may be granted the favour of living an authentic experience of fraternal union in our search for the good of all families, who - as the Holy Father has reminded us during his Apostolic Voyage to Cuba - are not a problem, but above all an opportunity. An opportunity which we need to care for, protect and accompany (Pope Francis, Speech for the Encounter with families, Santiago, Cuba, 22 September 2015).
Report presented by His Eminence, Lorenzo Cardinal Baldisseri
Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops
Most Holy Father,
Eminences, Beatitudes, Excellencies,
Brothers and sisters,
With joy and much emotion I take the floor at the beginning of the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated to The vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and in the modern world. On behalf of the Synod Fathers, I wish to sincerely thank Your Holiness for having desired to entrust to the Synod, reflection on such an important and universal issue, which affects not only Catholics, but all Christians and the whole of humanity, and which for these reasons finds itself at the centre of the pastoral mission of the Church. As, in fact, is pointed out in the preamble to the Constitution Gaudium et Spes, written during the Second Vatican Council, the fiftieth anniversary of the closure of which we are about to celebrate: the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anguishes of the people of our time, above all the poor and those who are afflicted, are also the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anguishes of the disciples of Christ, and there is nothing genuinely human that does not find an echo in their hearts (Vatican Council II, Gaudium et spes, 1)
In the Holy Father's speech during the Prayer Vigil in preparation for the III Extraordinary General Assembly last October (2014), we find an echo of these words and an application of the theme of our reflection: It is significant that, even in this individualistic culture which distorts and creates ephemeral ties - in everyone born of a woman, there remains alive an essential need for stability, for an open door, for everyone with whom we can develop and share the story of life, a story that we can call our own. The communion of life which is assumed by spouses, their openness to the gift of life, reciprocal care, the encounter and the memory of generations, educational support, the transmission of the Christian faith to children … with this entire family which continues to be a school of humanity without equal, contributes in an indispensable way to a just and fraternal society.
I wish to address a respectful greeting to the members of the Synod Assembly, gathered here as a representation of the entire Catholic episcopate. According to the Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, the leaders of the Eastern Catholic Church sui iuris, Bishops elected by the Synods of Bishops and by the Councils of the Hierarchy of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Bishops elected by their Conferences of Bishops, ten Religious elected by the Union of Superiors General and the Heads of the various Dicasteries of the Roman Curia (Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 5, paragraph 1) can participate in this assembly. In addition, a certain number of others can be added by the Holy Father (Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 5, paragraph 4).
All together, there are 270 Synod Fathers participating in this gathering, as well as 42 ex officio (15 Patriarchs, Major Archbishops and Metropolitans of the Metropolitan Churches sui iris from the Eastern Catholic Churches; 25 Heads of Dicasteries from the Roman Curia; the Secretary-General and the Under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops), 183 elected participants and 45 appointed by the Pope.
Among the members, there are 74 Cardinals (including one Patriarch and 2 Major Archbishops), 6 Patriarchs, 1 Major Archbishop, 72 Archbishops (of which 3 are titular Archbishops), 102 Bishops (among which, 6 are Auxiliaries, 3 are Apostolic Vicars and 1 is emeritus), 2 Diocesan priests (both of whom are pastors) and 13 Religious.
Our assembly is large and complex, a wonderful fresco of the catholicity of the Church, in which is reflected the feelings and resonance of voices from all the continents. This Synodal gathering - the Holy Father recently affirmed - possesses a world-wide breath, that corresponds to the universal dimension of Christianity, but also to the universal scope of this fundamental and indispensable human community which is precisely the family (Pope Francis, General Audience, 16 September 2015). At the same time, since the Synod of Bishops acts cum Petro et sub Petro, leader and guardian of the one flock of Christ, he also becomes a particular manifestation of the unity of the Catholic Church built upon the foundation of the Apostles, among whom, Simon Peter is the rock (cf Mt 16:18), the disciple chosen by the Master to confirm the brothers in the one faith (cf Lk 22:32).
The words recently spoken by the Holy Father to the Bishops of the United States of America exhort us, as Fathers of the Church, to work constantly in unity and for unity: The great mission which the Lord gives us - the Pope affirmed - is one which we carry out in communion, collegially … The Church, the seamless garment of the Lord cannot allow herself to be rent, broken or fought over. Our mission as bishops is first and foremost to solidify unity, a unity whose content is defined by the Word of God and the one Bread of Heaven (Pope Francis, Speech to the Bishops of the United States of America, 23 September 2015).
Our ministry - Pope Francis declared, while addressing the Bishops who attended the VIII World Meeting of Families - needs to develop the covenant of the Church and of the family … God grants us the gift of this new closeness between the family and the Church. Families need it, the Church needs it, and we pastors need it (Pope Francis, Speech to the Bishops visiting at the VIII World Meeting of Families, 27 September 2015).
I also cordially greet the 14 Fraternal Delegates, representing the other Christian ecclesial communities, whose presence renews in us the desire to work together toward the full visible unity of the Church of Christ, aware the even on such a significant theme as the family, all Christians are called to find and to travel along a common path, so that their united witness might be credible in the eyes of the world.
Thank you also to the 24 experts, designated in virtue of their competence to contribute to the work of the Synod as collaborators with the Special Secretary, and to the 51 Auditors, from every corner of the planet. Among them are included many specialists and workers in the pastoral care of families, but above all - as was the case last year - many married couples, called to enrich the Synod with their daily experience of family life, made up of joys and also of trials: to be precise, there are 17 married couples among the Auditors and one among the Experts. Significant among them, is the presence of women, from whom we anticipate a special contribution so that the Synod might also examine the family with the tender, attentive and compassionate eye of a woman.
Finally, a special note of gratitude is offered to the Press, to the assistants, the translators, the technical staff, as well as the Officials and the Collaborators from the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, who - also thanks to the competent coordination of the Under-secretary, His Excellency, Fabio Fabene - have worked with diligence to prepare this Assembly, and who will be called upon during the entire duration, to continue their generous efforts.
A moment of grace for the life of the Church
The XIV Ordinary General Assembly is taking place in a moment of special grace for the entire Church. First, because we are celebrating fifty years since the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. It was, to quote a happy expression of Saint John Paul II, the great grace bestowed upon the Church during the twentieth century: in it, we find a sure compass to orient us along the journey through the century that is beginning (Saint John Paul II, Novo millennia ineunte, 6 January 2001, 57). Already, in the Message to the People of God from the II Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, convoked on the occasion of the XX anniversary of its closure, the Synod Fathers expressed the conviction that that Ecumenical Council was a gift of God to the Church and to the world, seeing in it, a font offered by the Holy Spirit to the Church for today and for tomorrow (II Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Message to the People of God, 7 December 1985, 1).
From the distance of half a century, the Second Vatican Council remains for us - as Benedict XVI affirmed in more recent times - a strong call to rediscover every day the beauty of our faith, to know it in a profound way in order to have a more intense relationship with the Lord, to live the depths of our Christian vocation (Benedict XVI, General Audience, 10 October 2012).
Second, what we are living is a moment of grace because the Synod of Bishops is also marking the important milestone of the fiftieth anniversary of its establishment, which through the will of the Holy Father will be solemnly commemorated on the morning of October 17. According to the mind of Blessed Paul VI, who instituted the Synod of Bishops on 15 September 1965, the Synod should perpetuate within the Church the spirit of Vatican II, in order that even after the conclusion of that gathering, the great abundance of benefits might continue to reach the Christian people, who during the Council had come from the living union of the Supreme Pontiff with the Bishops (Blessed Paul VI, Motu proprio, Apostolica solicitudo, 15 September 1965, Preamble).
Third, the Synodal Assembly takes place in the weeks leading up to the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, called by Pope Francis on April 11 of this year, and therefore it receives a particular light and a precise orientation. The lintel that supports the life of the Church - the Holy Father proclaimed in the Bull of Induction - is mercy. All her pastoral actions should be wrapped in the tenderness with which she addresses all believers; nothing of her proclamation and of her witness borne to the world can be deprived of mercy. The credibility of the Church passes through the ways of merciful and compassionate love (Pope Francis, Misericordiae vultus, 11 April 2015, 10).
The long Synodal journey on the family
Looking back at the recent past, we struggle to see that the Synodal Assembly takes place at the end of a long journey, of which we are now called to reap the rewards.
The intent we are pursuing is to proclaim with joy and conviction the 'good' news of the family, knowing -as was already expressed by Saint John Paul II after the V Ordinary General Assembly of the 1980 Synod, which was also dedicated to the Christian family - that the future of humanity passes through the family (Saint John Paul II, Post-synodal exhortation, Familiaris consortio, 22 November 1981, 86). At a time in which - as the Holy Father has recently declared - the family is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without, we want to reawaken the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life (Pope Francis, Speech to the Congress of the United States of America, 24 September 2015).
The Synodal journey began in 2013, shortly after the election to the papacy of Pope Francis. In fact, already in the audience granted to the then Secretary General of the Synod, His Excellency, Nikola Eterović on 4 July of that year, the Holy Father, after having taken into consideration the proposals advanced by the XIII Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat, indicated for the next Synodal Assembly a theme which would concern the vocations of persons and of the human family. Then, in a later audience granted to the Secretary General, which took place on 23 August 2013, His Holiness decided to convene the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme of the pastoral challenges facing the family. Finally, after the appointment of the new Secretary General and the further convening of the Ordinary Council of the Secretariat, which established the Lineamenta in view of the Assembly, on 8 October 2013, Pope Francis officially indicated that the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops would take place between 5 and 19 October of the following year on the theme: The pastoral challenges facing the family in the context of evangelization.
According to the Ordo Synodi, the calling of an Extraordinary General Assembly responds to the need to treat any matter which, for the good of the universal Church, requires an immediate definition (Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 4). The family appears, in fact, due to its crucial importance and by reason of the great transformations which affect it, an urgent theme for the mission of the Church. To every mode, already on the following 5 November, on the occasion of the presentation of the Lineamenta, it was announced that the Extraordinary General Assembly of 2014 would be followed, in October 2015, by an Ordinary General Assembly, once again on the theme of the family, since for its relevance it required doctrine, prudence and the recommendations of the entire Catholic episcopacy (Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 4).
The unprecedented initiative to deal with the same theme in two stages, the fruit of the pastoral creativity of Pope Francis, has suddenly aroused an extraordinary interest in the Church, as well as large sectors of civil society. Meanwhile, on 29 December 2013, on the occasion of the Feast of the Holy Family, celebrated with particular solemnity in some places of Christianity which are linked to it in a special way (Nazareth, Loretto and Barcelona), the Holy Father confided to the entire Church the task of accompanying the synodal journey with constant prayer.
A prelude to the work of the Synod was offered by the Extraordinary Consistory of the College of Cardinals, which on February 20 and 21, 2014, met under the presidency of the Holy Father to hold a common reflection on the theme of the family, also in the light of an introductory report presented by His Eminence, Cardinal Walter Kasper, President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Unity of Christians. Shortly afterward, on February 24 and 25, the fifth meeting of te XIII Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod examined the draft of the Instrumentum laboris in view of the Extraordinary General Assembly, prepared on the basis of responses to the Lineamenta, while on February 25 the Letter addressed by Pope Francis to families, explaining the meaning of the Synod was published.
After the final approval of the Instrumentum laboris, during the sixth convocation of the Ordinary Council of the Secretariat on 13 and 14 May 2014, and its publication on 26 June of that same year, the III Extraordinary General Assembly was held exactly three years ago. The conclusions drawn during that encounter were gathered to form the Relatio Synodi which was voted upon on Saturday, 18 October 2014. This was the first crucial step - or, if you prefer, the first fundamental step - in the synodal journey which began in 2013.
At the conclusion of the Extraordinary General Assembly, Pope Francis wished that the final document should be immediately published, together with the results of the voting on individual numbers. The Relatio Synodi reflected the richness of the interventions provided by the Synod Fathers in all their variety, requiring an additional consideration in view of the Ordinary General Assembly.
On the same day, October 18, the Holy Father officially announced that the Relatio Synodi would constitute the text of the Lineamenta in preparation for the Synod of October 2015: Dear brothers and sisters - he affirmed in his Speech held in this very Hall - now, we still have one year ... to work on the Relatio Synodi which is the faithful and clear summary of all that has been said and discussed in this Hall and in the small groups. It is presented to the Episcopal Conferences as the Lineamenta (Pope Francis, Speech at the conclusion of the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, 18 October 2014).
In the meanwhile, on the occasion of the 11th General Congregation, held on the preceding 13 October, an indication of the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod had already been formally indicated, on the theme: The vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and in the modern world.
Preparations for the XIV Ordinary General Assembly
At the conclusion of the Extraordinary General Assembly, the General Secretariat immediately set to work, following the Pope's decision, by convoking the VIII meeting of the Ordinary Council of the Secretariat, which took place on November 18 and 19 under the presidency of the Holy Father. On that occasion, the Lineamenta for the Ordinary General Assembly was launched, comprised of the Relatio Synodi as well as 46 questions which sought to discover the reception and to encourage the deepening of its subject matter in the universal Church. On the following December 9, the document was sent to the Synod of the Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris, to the Episcopal Conferences, to the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia and to other entitled persons, long with an invitation to return their responses by April 15, 2015.
Meanwhile, already on 21 November 2014, the first appointments by the Holy Father in view of the Synodal Assembly were published, including the names of the President-delegates, the Relator General and the Special Secretary. With respect to the Extraordinary General Assembly, the number of President-delegates - who had the task of presiding over the Assembly in the name of and by authority of the Roman Pontiff (Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 2). - was raised from three to four: including Cardinals André Vingt-Trois, Luis Antonio G. Tagle, and Raymundo Damasceno Assis, who already had exercised this office in October 2014, as well as Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, OFM, Archbishop of Durban, South Africa. As to the Relator General and the Special Secretary, the Holy Father appointed respectively, His Eminence, Cardinal Péter Erdõ, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest (Hungary) and His Excellency, Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto (Italy), who had exercised the same functions during the Extraordinary General Assembly. This decision by the Holy Father was intended to further emphasize the continuity between the two Synodal Assemblies as part of a single process of shared reflection.
Despite the tight timeframe, the considerable number of contributions received by the General Secretariat during the first part of this year confirmed the extraordinary interest shown in the theme and the active participation of all the People of God. The inter-Synodal period proved to be an additional valuable opportunity for auditus Ecclesiae (listening to the Church), or better, of listening to 'what the Spirit is saying to the Churches' (Rev 2:17) in the multiplicity of their components, especially through the voices of Christian families. It is they, in fact, who have felt more than any other that the Synod res nostra agitur: is concerned about them, wants to address them above all else, seeks to encourage them in their enthusiastic and at the same time, difficult journey.
In all, the General Secretariat received 102 responses from eligible sources. To these were added more than 400 observations, submitted freely by dioceses and parishes, Ecclesial Associations and spontaneous groups of the faithful, Movements and civic organizations, family nuclei and single believers. At the same time, Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties, other academic institutions, Centres of research and specialists in various disciplines also enriched the depth of the Synod theme with contributions and studies, often shedding light on new aspects, as requested by the questions previous to the Lineamenta. At the same time, the General Secretariat availed itself of the help of new Consultors, appointed on 14 March of this year, and the counsel of numerous other experts. To this was added, in recent months, an ample number of publications and conferences on the theme of the family, addressed from many points of view: historical, anthropological, cultural, psychological, sociological, biblical, dogmatic, moral, juridical, political, economic ... to mention only the main areas of reflection. Among all these contributions, special mention should be made - because of its expertise - of the Pontifical Council for the Family, as well as those from other institutions within the Roman Curia and from various Episcopal Conferences.
Essentially, it was then the contributions offered by the Holy Father himself, who in the Wednesday General Audiences and on many other occasions authoritatively accompanied the common journey during eh past year. Thus, beginning the cycle of his catecheses on the family, he affirmed on 17 December 2014: The Synod of Bishops on the Family, which was recently celebrated, represented the first step in a journey which will conclude next October with the celebration of another Assembly on the theme: The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the world. Prayer is the reflection that should accompany this journey which is shared by all of God's people. My wish is that these meditations from the Wednesday audiences may be included in this common journey. I have therefore decided to reflect with you, during this coming year, on the family, this great gift which hte Lord gave to the world from the beginning, when he confided to Adam and Eve the mission of multiplying and filling the earth (cf Gn 1:28). This is the gift that Jesus confirmed and sealed in his gospel.
During the ninth meeting of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat, which took place on 25 and 26 May of this year, under the presidency of the Holy Father, the draft of the Instrumentum laboris for the Ordinary General Assembly was presented, a document which, once examined and approved by that same Council, was published the following 23 June. This text proves to be original in its very structure. On one hand, in fact, it welcomes the 2014 Relatio Synodi, leaving it unchanged, for it is a document which has already been voted upon by the Synod Assembly and has been published according to the wishes of the Holy Father. On the other hand, certain paragraphs from the Relatio, made graphically recognizable by the numbers in brackets and by the characters written in italics, have been combined with several paragraphs of the new document, the result of the work of synthesizing the responses, observations and contributions received from all corners of the world.
The Instrumentum laboris, which reliably respects the perceptions and expectations of the Church on the important theme of the family, is composed in three parts, which by reason of their succession demonstrate the continuity between the two synodal steps: in the first part (Listening to the challenges facing the family) draws more directly from the 2014 Assembly, the second part (The discernment of the vocation of a family) and the third part (The mission of the family today) seek above all to introduce the theme of the present Assembly, with the objective of offering the Church and the modern world pastoral stimuli for a renewed evangelization.
On September 8 of this year, the Holy Father then promulgated two Apostolic letters in the form of motu proprio, entitled Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et misericors Iesus, concerning reforms to the canonical process for the causes of declarations of nullity of marriage, respectively in the Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Taking account of the consensus that was reached during the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod - which had urged faster and more accessible processes - a consensus that was confirmed during the inter-synodal period by more in-depth maturity of the Lineamenta, Pope Francis offered in this document certain provisions for favouring - as he himself had declared - not the nullity of marriage, but the acceleration of the processes, not merely a simplification. Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, the Supreme Pontiff has therefore established that causes for nullity of marriage are dealt with through judicial and not through administrative processes, not because this is required by the nature of the circumstances, but rather because it calls for the protection of the sacred bond to the maximum degree (Pope Francis, Apostolic Letter issued motu proprio, Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus, 8 September 2015, Preamble; see also the Apostolic Letter issued motu proprio, Mitis et misericors Iesus, 8 settembre 2015, Preamble).
Finally, almost at the end of the long synodal journey, in Philadelphia, the VIII World Meeting of Families was celebrated only a few days ago. On that occasion, Pope Francis emphasized, among other things, the essential role of the family for passing on the faith. His Holiness affirmed that: our families, our homes, are true domestic churches. They are the right place for faith to become life, and life to grow in faith, and he assured us that Anyone who wants to bring into this world a family which teaches children to be excited by every gesture aimed at overcoming evil – a family which shows that the Spirit is alive and at work – will encounter our gratitude and our appreciation. Whatever the family, people, religion or region to which they belong! (Pope Francis, Homily for the Closing Mass of the VIII World Meeting of Families, Philadelphia, 27 September 2015).
The methodology of the Synod
Yesterday morning, with the solemn Eucharistic celebration presided over by the Holy Father in the Vatican Basilica, the second stage of the synodal itinerary, begun in 2013 was officially opened. This is a stage which is at the same time the culmination and the final phase of the process. In the three weeks of intense work that begin today, the Instrumentum laboris constitutes not only a point of departure for our reflection and discussion, but the base text that will be elaborated into the Relatio finalis, which at the conclusion of our work will incorporate the results of the preceding Extraordinary General Assembly, the contributions which were received during the inter-synodal period and the authoritative contributions during this Ordinary General Assembly.
What we will experience, thus becomes the culminating moment of a long journey which takes account of the precious legacy of ideas and reflections that have emerged so far in view of continually deepening our understanding, in order to achieve the objective assigned by the Holy Father to this Ordinary General Assembly since last year: to mature, with true spiritual discernment, the proposed ideas and to find concrete solutions to so many difficulties and innumerable challenges that families must confront; to give answers to the many discouragements that surround and suffocate families (Pope Francis, Speech at the conclusion of the III Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, 18 October 2014).
To facilitate this, the methodology of the Synod activity was partially updated, and now takes into account the experience acquired during the 2014 Assembly, as well as the suggestions submitted by the members of that Assembly. The objective was to make it more agile, dynamic and effective at carrying out the work, emphasizing especially the work accomplished in the working groups, in which the limited number of participants and the linguistic homogeneity led to open dialogue, the sharing of ideas and the maturation of consensus. Given the importance that they invested, it was considered necessary that more ample time be dedicated to the working groups.
Let me now briefly explain the way in which the work will take place, with reference (for study purposes) to the handbook that was provided to all Synod Fathers and to other participants in this Assembly, which also includes the timetable for this work. Prepared by the General Secretariat on the basis of the Ordo Synodi, this handbook contains complete and detailed information about the procedure for this Assembly's activities and an indispensable instrument for following the proceedings.
At the conclusion of my intervention, Cardinal Péter Erdõ, who prepared the General Relation, will take the floor. Then, the synodal activity will be explained on the basis of the tripartite division of the Instrumentum laboris: in this way, we will have three working units before us; each one of them will take into consideration one of the parts into which the document is divided. At the beginning of each of these units, there will be a brief presentation of the theme to be undertaken; followed by an intervention by a married couple who are Auditors, who will offer their testimony of family life; then the interventions of the Synod Fathers will begin, following the order of presentations according to the requests which arrived through the presentation request forms which were previously distributed.
Each Synod Father has the ability to speak only once during the Assembly, by choosing one of the three working units in order to expose the part of the Instrumentum laboris that he prefers. The number of those having the right to speak being elevated (318 of the Fathers, Fraternal Delegates and Auditors) and having given much space to the working groups (13 sessions), each will be allowed to intervene in the Hall for a maximum of three minutes, while in the working groups, there will be ample time for speaking. Moreover, as in the past, some of the General Congregations will provide time, lasting up to an hour each, dedicated to free interventions by the Fathers. At the same time, it is always possible to present ideas to the General Secretariat, written texts in addition to the printed and computer generated texts which will be spoken.
At the conclusion of the General Congregations, the interventions of the Synod Fathers will be combined into a synthesis, which will form a supplement to the Instrumentum laboris. This task is entrusted to the Relator General and to the Special Secretary, each of whom is duly assisted by experts (Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 7, paragraph 1).
The synthesis of the interventions, organized according to the structure of the Instrumentum laboris, will be promptly translated and delivered in each of the working groups, the total of which will be thirteen: four in English, three in French, three in Italian, two in Spanish-Portuguese and one in German. In the light of the reflections and the discussions about the texts received, the working groups will elaborate the collective modes of the Instrumentum laboris as they see fit. Returning to the Hall, the respective Relators will present the synthesized reports concerning the work accomplished in the working groups and provide the General Secretariat with a report of the discussion which took place in the working groups concerning any needed amendments to the text.
In each working group - that is to say, for each of the three parts of the Instrumentum laboris - the examination of the modes will be coordinated by the General Relator who will work closely with the Special Secretary, the Experts and the Relators from the working groups.
In addition, on Friday, 16 October, the synod reflections will be enriched by the reception of reports from the Fraternal Delegates, who will speak in the morning, and by Auditors who will intervene in the afternoon.
As it was for the last Extraordinary General Assembly, the Holy Father has instituted the Commission for the elaboration of the Final Report. This Commission is composed of the Relator General (who will preside), the Secretary General, the Special Secretary and seven Synod Fathers who have been appointed by the Pope (one from each continent, considering separately North and South America, Latin America and the Caribbean, plus one Religious). Also in the light of the experience which has matured since the Extraordinary General Assembly of 2014, this Commission will have the task of coordinating and overseeing the drafting of the synod texts, in their various phases of completion until the final Synod document is complete.
At the conclusion of each unit of work, having completed the reception of the modes presented by the working groups, this Commission will meet to proceed to the redaction of the corresponding section of the Relatio finalis (final report). The calendar of the synod's work does not establish with great precision the chronology of the meetings for this Commission, in order to guarantee the necessary time for the integration of all the various parts. However, it will be up to the General Secretary to convoke, from time to time, the members of the Commission.
At the conclusion of the third unit of work, the Commission will meet once more to elaborate the draft of the final report, the result of the collegial work which, beginning with the Instrumentum laboris, has benefitted from the constructive interventions in the Synod Hall, the reports of the Fraternal Delegates and those of the Auditors as well as the work accomplished in the working groups.
On the morning of the 22 October, the draft will be presented in the Hall and consigned to the Synod Fathers for their evaluation. In the General Congregation held on that afternoon, it will be possible for the Fathers to intervene one last time, either in oral form or b presenting a written copy of their text to the General Secretariat.
Bearing in mind that the draft of the Final Report will be the result of the combination of three texts which have already been implemented by the collective modes of the working groups - the reports having been read in the Hall and then published - further action will have to be advanced in accordance with the collective work conducted so far.
Subsequently, the said Commission will oversee the elaboration of the definitive text of the Relatio finalis, which will be presented in the Synod Hall on the morning of Saturday, 24 October, and in the afternoon, will be submitted to a vote on the part of the members of the Assembly. In conformity with the nature of the Synod, this Relatio, the result of the work of the Synod, will finally be presented to the Supreme Pontiff, who has the competence to make any decisions the report should merit (Code of Canon Law, 343; Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, Article 23, paragraph 4).
Once again, I wish to point out that since this is an Ordinary General Assembly, the Ordo Synodi provides that during the meeting, we should proceed to the election of a new Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod, the XIV, which will remain in office until the next Ordinary General Assembly. The election will take place in two phases, on Tuesday, 20 October and on Thursday, 22 October, according to a procedure which will be explained in due time. The Synod Fathers will be called upon to elect from among themselves, twelve Members of the Council: three from Europe, three from the Americas, three from Africa, three from Asia and Oceania. Another three Members will be appointed by the Holy Father.
Pope Francis has reminded us that the Synod is not a parliament, but a protected space within which the Holy Spirit can work. What happens is a comparison between bishops, which takes place following long periods of preparatory work, which then continues in a another form for the good of the family, the Church and society. This is a process, it is the normal synodal way (Pope Francis, General Audience, 10 December 2014). These words offer us precious indications also for that which concerns information about the activity of the Synod.
As to the media coverage of news relating to the work of the Synod, the method adopted last year is substantially confirmed. This service will be managed by the Press Office of the Holy See in consultation with the Synod Commission for information. His Excellency, Claudio Maria Celli will be part of this Synod Commission and serve as its President, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ will serve as its Secretary and there will also be three Synod Fathers, proposed by the President of the Commission and approved by the President-Delegates.
The principal source of information will be the daily Briefings coordinated by the Director of the Press Office: some of the Synod Fathers will also participate in these briefings as indicated from time to time by the Commission for information. Their number will be increased compared to last year. Also this year, through the dedicated Twitter account, the most important news concerning the progress of the work of the Synod will be transmitted in synthesis.
The Synod Fathers will be free to communicate with the media at their own discretion and responsibility, maintaining the necessary confidentiality as to debates within the Hall and in the working groups. From time to time, the reports presented in the working groups will be published, while the various stages of preparation of the final document will remain confidential, since the text is susceptible to continual development until its final draft is complete.
Praying for the Synod
Since the beginning of the Synod path, Pope Francis has called the entire Church to trusting and constant prayer. To this end, he himself composed a prayer, which was distributed on 29 December 2013, to confide the work of the Synod to the Holy Family of Nazareth, in the belief that the shining example of Jesus, Mary and Joseph commits us to the vocation and the mission of the family (Pope Francis, General Audience, 17 December 2014).
As we did last year, we wanted the work of the Synod to be supported with constant prayer in the Roman Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Thanks to the collaboration of the Diocese of Rome, the faithful can pray every day for the Synod in the chapel of the Virgin Mary, Salus Populi Romani. In that same place, the relics of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus and those of her parents, Blessed Zélie and Louis Martin, will be displayed. On Sunday, 18 October, coinciding with World Mission Sunday, Pope Francis will canonize, among others, the Martin spouses, presenting them to the world as an outstanding model of family holiness.
In addition, as of today, in the chapel adjacent to this Hall, we participants in the Synod can also venerate the relics of Saint Teresa of Lisieux, those of her parents and those of the Blessed married couple Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi.
At the beginning of the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, after having invoked the Holy Spirit with the chanting of the Veni Creator, we wish once again to implore the Spirit's aid - through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church and Queen of the family - that we may be granted the favour of living an authentic experience of fraternal union in our search for the good of all families, who - as the Holy Father has reminded us during his Apostolic Voyage to Cuba - are not a problem, but above all an opportunity. An opportunity which we need to care for, protect and accompany (Pope Francis, Speech for the Encounter with families, Santiago, Cuba, 22 September 2015).
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