Synod of Bishops at work

From November 21 to 22, 2016 the second meeting of the XIV Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops met under the leadership of the Holy Father, Pope Francis.

The work began with an intervention by the Secretary General, His Eminence, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri.  In his words of greeting offered to the Holy Father, recognizing his presence at the meeting, His Eminence took the occasion to offer his congratulations to the newly-created Cardinals who were present for this meeting.  In fact, among the members of the Council, two of the newly-created Cardinals: His Eminence Sérgio Da Rocha and His Eminence Carlos Osoro Sierra were in attendance.  In addition, three Prefects of Dicasteries within the Roman Curia were invited to take part in the meeting: their Eminences, Joāo Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; Beniamino Stella, Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy; and Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.

Then, the proposal for the preparatory document for the XV General Ordinary Assembly was examined, elaborated upon by the General Secretary with the help of competent experts in the synodal theme: Youth, faith and vocational discernment.  In this respect, the members of the Council manifested their appreciation for the work done on the document and offered their suggestions for its improvement.

The document, which includes a questionnaire, will be sent to the various Episcopal Conferences, to Synods of the Oriental Catholic Churches sui iuris and to other rightful Organizations, in order that it may be distributed to all dioceses and to other ecclesial institutions.  The members of the Council met in study groups divided according to continents in order to formulate some questions specifically addressed to young people in various geographical and cultural contexts.  Finally, proposals concerning the text and the questionnaire were gathered and inserted into the draft document, which was subsequently approved unanimously.

Finally, the members of the Council discussed possible revisions to the Ordo Synodi Episcoporum.  In this regard, His Excellency, Fabio Fabene, Under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops gave a report concerning the work which the General Secretariat is developing with the help of experts, in view of revisions to the synodal norms.  There was then a period of fruitful exchange of opinions.

At the conclusion of the work, the Holy Father thanked the Council members and the other participants for their contributions and for the spirit of fraternal communion that was experienced during this meeting.