At 11:00am this morning (5:00am EDT), at the Vatican Press Centre, there was a Press Conference held to present the outline of the XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which will take place in the New Synod Hall inside the Vatican from 3 to 28 October 2018, focusing on the theme of Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment.
Present at the Press Conference were Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops; Cardinal Sérgio da Rocha, General Relator for the Synod; and His Excellency, Fabio Fabene, Under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops.
Also present were the Special Secretaries: Reverend Father Giacomo Costa, SJ and Reverend Father Rossano Sala, SDB.
I cordially greet all of you who are participating in this Press Conference in view of the XV Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which will begin later this week and focus on the theme of Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment from 3 to 28 of this month.
This synodal assembly, which will enter into its celebratory phase the day after tomorrow, is an event of central importance for the People of God, for Pastors and for the flock, and for the whole of society, by reason of its theme - youth - all the young people of the earth, and in view of the ongoing dream of all of civilization: for love. From the very beginning of the Synodal journey, the Church - as the Holy Father has affirmed - wishes to listen to the voice, sensitivity, faith and also the doubts and criticisms of the young (Pope Francis, Catechesis for the General Audience, 4 October 2017), and she does so with a gathering of universal (world) scope, like the Synod - in order to offer to the generations that will have responsibilities in the future, its experience (The Church: expert in humanity), the proposal of faith in Jesus Christ, the focus of everyone's story.
As you know, this is the third Synod convened by Pope Francis. The first was the III Extraordinary General Assembly, the second the XIV Ordinary General Assembly - both on the subject of the family. This Ordinary General Assembly, the XV, dedicated to young people, is placed in line with the previous assemblies, whose common thread is the renewal of the Church and society starting from the very foundations: family and young people, the guarantee of future generations.
The theme of young people is certainly a challenge today, as indeed was that of the family. And the Church is not afraid of facing challenges, which are always difficult and insidious. She does not fear them because she is sure that spiritual and human strength comes to her from the Holy Spirit, who inspires and supports her Pastors and her flock, led by the one who has the ministry of confirming the brothers.
On the 17th of September of this year, as we know, the Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis communio was promulgated. This is the first Ordinary General Assembly in which the new document will apply. Today, October 1, the Instruction announced earlier by this title is also being published and enacted: the Instruction on the celebration of the Synodal Assemblies and the activity of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. His Excellency, Fabio Fabene will report it later in this Press Conference.
According to the synodal norms, the leaders of the Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris, the Bishops elected by the various Synods of the Bishops and the Councils of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Bishops elected by the Episcopal Conferences and ten Religious elected by the Union of Religious Superiors will participate in the Ordinary General Assembly, as well as some leaders of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, and a large number of Members appointed by the Holy Father.
In total, 266 Synodal Fathers will take part in this Assembly: 31 ex officio (15 Patriarchs, Major Archbishops and leaders of Metropolitan Churches sui iuris of the Eastern Catholic Churches, 16 Heads of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the General Secretary and Secretary of the Synod of Bishops and 15 Members of the XIV Ordinary Council), 181 elected by the Episcopal Conferences (ex electione) and 41 Members appointed by the Pope.
Among the members, there are 50 Cardinals (including two Patriarchs and 3 Major Archbishops), 6 Patriarchs, 1 Major Archbishop, 44 Archbishops, 101 residential Bishops, 37 Auxiliary Bishops, 6 Apostolic Vicars and 1 Prelate Bishop, 10 Religious representing the Union of Superiors General and 10 members who have not been accorded the Order of Bishops, including Presbyters and Religious men and women.
Among the other participants, there are 23 Experts, designated in virtue of their competences who will contribute to the work of the synod as collaborators with the Special Secretaries, as well as 49 Auditors from various parts of the world. These include not only specialists and youth ministers but also 34 young people between the ages of 18 and 29 years, who will contribute with their lively presence to making the voices of many of their peers heard.
Also significant will be the presence of eight Fraternal Delegates, representatives of other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, demonstrating their willingness to work together to achieve the full visible unity of the Church of Christ, in awareness of the fact that even on such a relevant theme as young people, all Christians are called to find and to follow a common path, so that their consistent witness may be credible in the eyes of the world.
Therefore, this is a wide-ranging Assembly, a synodal encounter with world-wide scope, corresponding to the universal dimensions of the Church, which acts cum Petro et sub Petro (with Peter and under Peter).
The XV Ordinary General Assembly stands at the end of a long journey of preparation that began with the announcement of its convocation by the Roman Pontiff, through a press release issued on October 6, 2016, in which His Holiness specified the purpose of this Assembly : To accompany young people on their existential journey towards maturity so that, through a process of discernment, they might discover their purpose in life and realize it with joy, opening themselves to the encounter with God and with men and actively participating in the building up of the Church and of society.
From that moment on, the General Secretariat with the XIV Ordinary Council and a group of experts began the Synodal process with the preparation of the Preparatory Document, published on January 13, 2017 together with a Letter for young people from Pope Francis, inviting all young people not to be afraid and to walk towards the Synod. As is known from this document, which included a specific Questionnaire, a first wide-ranging consultation was launched to the entire People of God, through the Episcopal Conferences and the Eastern Churches, who sent their answers in large numbers. To this first period of listening were added three other instances promoted by the General Secretariat: a specific online questionnaire for all young people of the world, the International Seminar on the Status of Youth, celebrated from 11 to 15 September 2017 and the Pre-Synodal Meeting of young people coming from from around the world 300 in the hall and 15,000 in the network), celebrated from 19 to 24 March this year.
The Instrumentum laboris, which was made public at the press conference held on 19 June of this year, as was explained at the time, represents the synthesis of all the material collected during the consultation referred to above.
With the solemn Eucharistic Celebration presided over by the Holy Father in the Basilica of Saint Peter this coming Wednesday, the celebratory assembly will begin on the synodal journey, which will last for 25 days. During this time the Synod Fathers will work together with the other participants, according to their own duties, on the Instrumentum laboris which will be the basic text for the elaboration of the Final Document. It will summarize the results achieved by the XV Ordinary General Assembly.
From October 3 onwards we will begin to experience the culminating moment of the long journey of preparation that has preceded this Synod. The precious patrimony of ideas and reflections which have so far emerged will allow us to achieve the objectives of this Synodal Assembly, among which are the following:
1. to make the whole Church aware of her missionary task of accompanying every young person, no one excluded, towards the joy of love, which Jesus Christ offers to the new generations;
2. to become aware of the universal scope of the concept of vocation and, consequently, of the link between youth ministry and pastoral vocation, which is expressed in the formula which is used several times by the Preparatory Document and taken up in the Instrumentum laboris: vocational youth ministry. Thus attention will be placed in this broad context with a particular accent on the ministerial vocation to the priesthood and to the consecrated life;
3. the ecclesial renewal desired by Pope Francis in Evangelii gaudium, according to which pastoral conversion is aimed at making sure that ecclesial structures become all more missionary ... in a constant attitude of 'going out' (n. 27).
I would like to briefly explain how the work of the Synod will be carried out. It will be divided into three work units, correlating with the three parts of the Working Document: Recognizing: the Church listening to reality (first part); Interpreting: faith and vocational discernment (second part); and Choosing: paths of pastoral and missionary conversion (third part).
During the inaugural session on the afternoon of 3 October, in addition to the Report of the General Secretary of the Synod, the Istrumentum laboris will be illustrated by the General Relator in broad lines and then, in an introductory manner, the presentation of the first part will take place. Afterwards, the interventions in the Synod Hall will begin, focusing on the first part of the Document.
Once these interventions have been completed, we will move on to the 14 smaller working groups divided into various languages (French, Italian, English, Portuguese, Spanish and German) where we will proceed to elaborate the collective modes of the basic text, or the Instrumentum laboris, which will then be delivered to the General Secretariat.
The interventions of the Synodal Fathers, the collective contributions of the working groups and the reports from the groups will be collected and summarized in a provisional supplementary text of the Instrumentum laboris at the end of each work unit.
According to the practice already developed in the recent General Assemblies on the family, which became normative beginning with the Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis communio, a Commission will be established for the elaboration of the final Document. It will coordinate and oversee the work of the Synodal texts. In fact, at the end of each work unit, received from the various working groups, the General Relator with the Special Secretaries, will meet with the other members of the Commission to proceed with the revision of the text of the relevant section of the Final Document. The outline of the work of the first unit, which ends with the 5th General Congregation on Tuesday 9 October, will be repeated similarly for the other two units of work, respectively, the XI General Congregation on Monday 15 October, and the XVII General Congregation on Monday October 22nd. Finally, the Commission will meet again to elaborate the draft of the Final Document.
The draft document will be presented in the morning of Wednesday, October 24 in the Synod Hall. The Synodal Fathers in the General Congregation that afternoon will be able to intervene further on the draft, both in oral and written form.
Subsequently, the aforementioned Commission will prepare the final text of the final document, which will be presented in the morning of Saturday, 27 October in the Synod Hall and in the afternoon, it will be submitted to the Synod Fathers and finally, once it has been voted on by them, will be delivered to the Supreme Pontiff, who is ultimately responsible for every decision on the matter.
I would like to point out that, since this is an Ordinary General Assembly, the Instruction, which today comes into force, as I said before, provides for the election of the new Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat, the XV, which will remain in office until the next Ordinary General Assembly. The election will take place during the XX General Congregation held on the afternoon of Friday October 26th, in the manner which will be indicated at the time.
The dissemination of news relating to the work of the Synod will be edited by the Dicastery for Communication, presided over by its Prefect, Doctor Paolo Ruffini, who in turn will be the President of the Synodal Commission for Information.
The main source of information will be the daily briefings and press conferences, coordinated by the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication: these appointments will be attended by the Synod Fathers and other participants at the Synod indicated from time to time by the Commission for information. Moreover, through the social networks (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) of Vatican News and the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, information on the progress of the work of the Synod will be disseminated and shared. It is also suggested that participants use the hashtag #Synod2018 for all languages in order to have a global overview of news concerning the Synod.
The Synod Fathers will be free to give interviews outside the Synod Hall as well as to generally communicate with the media at their discretion and responsibility, and of course in a personal capacity, maintaining the necessary confidentiality concerning the debates in the Synod Hall and in the working groups.
At the conclusion of my remarks, I can only wish you all my very best. I hope that news concerning this Synod which will be shared through your communication service will involve as many young people as possible and at the same time offer adults the opportunity to take action and to take initiatives to help them respond to their needs and dream of a future of hope. The Church - I would like to reaffirm - wants to do its part with this Synod and wants to do it with the determination and the strength that comes from its evangelizing mission.
Thank you for listening.
(Original text in Italian)
First of all a cordial greeting and thank you to all of you, for with your service, you accompany us on the synodal journey, helping the people of God and all people who are interested in following the most recent developments.
Cardinal Baldisseri has presented the global development of the Synodal sessions. In my intervention, I wish to explain further the role of the Instrumentum laboris as a reference for the Synod's work and to present a little more in detail the objective of the first part of the work, which will begin the day after tomorrow and will last approximately for the first week.
The journey of listening which preceded the Synod collected thousands of pages of testimonies, reflections and requests from all over the world; the Instrumentum laboris includes all these contributions, helping us to have a complete and integrated look at the issues we will have to deal with: it is therefore the framework of the work of the Synod and will accompany us daily, offering both a method and the content to be discussed.
Its structure is based on the style that was chosen in order that we might better walk together: discernment. There is no ready-made recipe to accompany young people to the faith and fullness of life, nor any pre-packaged solution to the many questions that the pre-synodal listening period has raised. It is so opportune that as a synodal assembly we move forward in a dynamic of discernment. To do so means to assume some precise attitudes:
1. The first is keeping our eyes and ears open, but also our minds and our hearts, like a sentinel who does not allow any sign of the changes taking place to escape him;
2. The second requirement for a good path of discernment is to know how to evaluate in the light of faith what is moving in the life of the world and of the Church, and in the interiority of each one of us;
3. Finally, we must stand amidst the wounds of history with hearts full of mercy, keeping the doors wide open to the God of tenderness who is continually acting in his people and making himself alive through the voice of the little ones and the poor.
Entering humbly into this way of proceeding, into this ecclesial style, is already the first pastoral response of a Church that wishes to be credible for younger generations.
Each of the three work units which will last about a week and will mark the synodal path is connected to one of the parts of the Instrumentum laboris, whose sequence reproposes the steps of a process of discernment: recognize, interpret, choose (cf EG 51). This will provide a dynamic orientation to the development of the sessions.
The first part is characterized by the verb to recognize: it means to start, in the light of faith, from the concreteness of the reality of young people to highlight the appeals and questions that God is addressing to his Church today.
The second part focuses on the verb to interpret: it is important that reality be illuminated by a biblical and anthropological, theological and ecclesiological, pedagogical and spiritual framework.
The third passage asks the synodal assembly to choose: the Church is called to take a position, to make courageous and perhaps even risky choices to create the conditions for an authentic pastoral, spiritual and missionary renewal of the Church.
Now I will concentrate on the first part, leaving the presentation of the work of the second and third parts for later.
In the coming days and throughout the first week of work, we will deal with the first part of the Instrumentum laboris, which is characterized by the verb to recognize: we will face reality not for sociological analysis, but with the disciple's gaze, scrutinizing the footsteps and the footprints of the Lord's path with an open and welcoming attitude. For those who care about young people and want to accompany them towards life in fullness, it is essential to know the realities that they live, beginning with the most painful ones such as discomfort, war, prison, migration and all other types of marginalization and poverty.
It will be equally necessary for us to be challenged by the concerns of young people, even when they question the Church's practices or raise complex issues such as affectivity and sexuality. In our ecclesial contexts it is very easy to talk about young people through hearsay, referring to stereotypes or models of youth that no longer exist. In this way, instead of listening and learning from reality, we idealize and idolize young people. Sometimes we refer to our own youth and we think that today's young people are living our experiences. But in this way we inevitably lose sight of the characteristic traits of today's young people, who live and are growing up in a very different context than even just a few years ago. With regard to the world of youth we are invited to recognize immediately that reality is more important than the idea (see Instrumentum laboris, n.4): our words concerning young people must start from the concreteness of reality.
Equally important is to become aware of the strengths of the Church's presence in the youth, and of our weaknesses, starting with the lack of familiarity with digital culture. In this first week the Synod Fathers are called in particular to make present the situation that young people live in the country from which each one comes and the way in which the local Church understands it: the path of preparation for the Synod has revealed profound differences between the different parts of the world. It is essential that through the Synod Fathers the freshness and originality of every context and of every land can make its own contribution. Communion in the Church is not done by making us all the same, but by sharing differences through respect, listening and dialogue.
Voices are often heard blaming young people for moving away from the Church. But many of them have experienced situations that lead them to affirm that it is the Church that has moved away from the young. And they openly tell us about this perception. In many cases they have not heard the voice of the Church and do not feel that she is close and welcoming, especially in the most tiring moments of their journey of human growth. So we will have to ask ourselves: are we a significant community for young people today? How can they be protagonists in the life of the Church? What conversions and prophetic gestures are needed to regain the trust and esteem of the younger generations?
This is the task that awaits us. The style of discernment with which we intend to face it will give substance to our reflections and prayers and will open us to listening to the voice of the Spirit. Only in this way can this synodal period ripen the fruit of conversions between hearts and minds and of renewal of pastoral practices. Following the Gospel image, it is a matter of preparing new wineskins for the new wine, because no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will split the wineskins, and wine and wineskins are lost. But new wine in new wineskins! (Mk 2:22).
The task of the Synod Fathers will therefore above all be that of being available to God's action within them, sure of Jesus' promise: Where there are two or three gathered in my name, there am I in their midst (Mt 18:20). The Lord Jesus will be mysteriously, but also daily and concretely present in our midst through his Spirit, who continues to lead His Church.
Thank you for your attention; continue your good work.
(Original text in Italian)
Instruction concerning the celebration of the Synodal Assemblies
and the activity of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
As Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri mentioned in his speech, the Instruction on the celebration of the Synodal Assemblies and the activity of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops is published with the date of today, in implementation of Article 26 of the recent Apostolic Constitution of Pope Francis Episcopalis communio (September 15, 2018).
It is an essentially applicable text and, for this reason, must be read in profound unity with the Pontifical Document from which it originates. As the recent Apostolic Constitution takes the place of the Motu Proprio Apostolica sollicitudo of Blessed Paul VI, so the new Instruction takes over from the Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, which in the course of about fifty years has known different editions, up to the last approved by Benedict XVI in 2006.
A significant part of the articles of the previous Ordo converge in the Instruction published today, a sign that the restructuring of the synodal organism, desired by Pope Francis from the beginning of his pontificate, is not a break with the past, but is fulfilled in the continuity of teaching in its development.
The articles follow a sequential order, as evidenced by the two parts in which the Instruction is divided. The first part deals with the subjects: the Roman Pontiff; the Synodal Members or Fathers appointed for the different types of Assembly; the General Secretariat with its Councils; the offices and bodies during the Synod Assemblies, namely the Delegated President, the General Relator, the Special Secretary, the Commission for Information, the Commission for the drafting of the Final Document, the Study Commissions and the Commission for Disputes. The second part, on the other hand, deals with procedures: it is here, among other things, that the discussion of the topics in the General Congregations and the study groups is regulated, and the voting methods in the groups, the Commission for the drafting of the Final Document and of the Synodal Assembly.
Certainly, there is no shortage of significant news, in line with the broad renewal sanctioned by Episcopalis communio, which in turn has incorporated and clarified the innovations currently introduced in the Synod Assemblies celebrated during the pontificate of Pope Francis.
Among them I would like to point out one of them in particular: the extension of the General Secretariat of the Synod, due to the fact that the Ordinary Council will henceforth be composed of twenty-one Bishops, sixteen of whom are elected by the Ordinary General Assembly. Among the latter, one Bishop will come from the Eastern Catholic Churches and the other fifteen from the Latin rite Churches distinguished on a geographical basis: two Bishops will represent North America, three will represent Latin America, three will represent Europe, three Africa, three Asia and one Oceania.
In implementation of Episcopalis communio (Article 24, § 2), only diocesan Bishops may be elected, in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, asking that, to assist the Pope, a permanent central organism composed of Pastors responsible for local Churches be established. In addition to the elected members there will be the Head of the Dicastery of the Roman Curia competent for the theme of the Synod Assembly, once this has been established by the Holy Father, and four other members appointed by pontifical nomination.
In conclusion, beyond the individual aspects, what we need to highlight is the overall orientation which, in line with Episcopalis communio, animates the Instruction: all functions and procedures are regulated in order to facilitate as much as possible the debate and the exchange of opinions among the Synodal Fathers, so as to bring out the richness of the voices of the Churches scattered throughout the earth. In this way, the Synod appears to all appearances as a peculiar expression of the indissoluble bond that unites the Bishops with each other and with the Pope in service to the People of God.
(Original text in Italian)
Present at the Press Conference were Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops; Cardinal Sérgio da Rocha, General Relator for the Synod; and His Excellency, Fabio Fabene, Under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops.
Also present were the Special Secretaries: Reverend Father Giacomo Costa, SJ and Reverend Father Rossano Sala, SDB.
Presentation by His Eminence, Lorenzo Baldisseri
General secretary of the Synod of Bishops
I cordially greet all of you who are participating in this Press Conference in view of the XV Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which will begin later this week and focus on the theme of Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment from 3 to 28 of this month.
This synodal assembly, which will enter into its celebratory phase the day after tomorrow, is an event of central importance for the People of God, for Pastors and for the flock, and for the whole of society, by reason of its theme - youth - all the young people of the earth, and in view of the ongoing dream of all of civilization: for love. From the very beginning of the Synodal journey, the Church - as the Holy Father has affirmed - wishes to listen to the voice, sensitivity, faith and also the doubts and criticisms of the young (Pope Francis, Catechesis for the General Audience, 4 October 2017), and she does so with a gathering of universal (world) scope, like the Synod - in order to offer to the generations that will have responsibilities in the future, its experience (The Church: expert in humanity), the proposal of faith in Jesus Christ, the focus of everyone's story.
As you know, this is the third Synod convened by Pope Francis. The first was the III Extraordinary General Assembly, the second the XIV Ordinary General Assembly - both on the subject of the family. This Ordinary General Assembly, the XV, dedicated to young people, is placed in line with the previous assemblies, whose common thread is the renewal of the Church and society starting from the very foundations: family and young people, the guarantee of future generations.
The theme of young people is certainly a challenge today, as indeed was that of the family. And the Church is not afraid of facing challenges, which are always difficult and insidious. She does not fear them because she is sure that spiritual and human strength comes to her from the Holy Spirit, who inspires and supports her Pastors and her flock, led by the one who has the ministry of confirming the brothers.
On the 17th of September of this year, as we know, the Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis communio was promulgated. This is the first Ordinary General Assembly in which the new document will apply. Today, October 1, the Instruction announced earlier by this title is also being published and enacted: the Instruction on the celebration of the Synodal Assemblies and the activity of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. His Excellency, Fabio Fabene will report it later in this Press Conference.
According to the synodal norms, the leaders of the Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris, the Bishops elected by the various Synods of the Bishops and the Councils of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Bishops elected by the Episcopal Conferences and ten Religious elected by the Union of Religious Superiors will participate in the Ordinary General Assembly, as well as some leaders of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, and a large number of Members appointed by the Holy Father.
In total, 266 Synodal Fathers will take part in this Assembly: 31 ex officio (15 Patriarchs, Major Archbishops and leaders of Metropolitan Churches sui iuris of the Eastern Catholic Churches, 16 Heads of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the General Secretary and Secretary of the Synod of Bishops and 15 Members of the XIV Ordinary Council), 181 elected by the Episcopal Conferences (ex electione) and 41 Members appointed by the Pope.
Among the members, there are 50 Cardinals (including two Patriarchs and 3 Major Archbishops), 6 Patriarchs, 1 Major Archbishop, 44 Archbishops, 101 residential Bishops, 37 Auxiliary Bishops, 6 Apostolic Vicars and 1 Prelate Bishop, 10 Religious representing the Union of Superiors General and 10 members who have not been accorded the Order of Bishops, including Presbyters and Religious men and women.
Among the other participants, there are 23 Experts, designated in virtue of their competences who will contribute to the work of the synod as collaborators with the Special Secretaries, as well as 49 Auditors from various parts of the world. These include not only specialists and youth ministers but also 34 young people between the ages of 18 and 29 years, who will contribute with their lively presence to making the voices of many of their peers heard.
Also significant will be the presence of eight Fraternal Delegates, representatives of other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, demonstrating their willingness to work together to achieve the full visible unity of the Church of Christ, in awareness of the fact that even on such a relevant theme as young people, all Christians are called to find and to follow a common path, so that their consistent witness may be credible in the eyes of the world.
Therefore, this is a wide-ranging Assembly, a synodal encounter with world-wide scope, corresponding to the universal dimensions of the Church, which acts cum Petro et sub Petro (with Peter and under Peter).
The XV Ordinary General Assembly stands at the end of a long journey of preparation that began with the announcement of its convocation by the Roman Pontiff, through a press release issued on October 6, 2016, in which His Holiness specified the purpose of this Assembly : To accompany young people on their existential journey towards maturity so that, through a process of discernment, they might discover their purpose in life and realize it with joy, opening themselves to the encounter with God and with men and actively participating in the building up of the Church and of society.
From that moment on, the General Secretariat with the XIV Ordinary Council and a group of experts began the Synodal process with the preparation of the Preparatory Document, published on January 13, 2017 together with a Letter for young people from Pope Francis, inviting all young people not to be afraid and to walk towards the Synod. As is known from this document, which included a specific Questionnaire, a first wide-ranging consultation was launched to the entire People of God, through the Episcopal Conferences and the Eastern Churches, who sent their answers in large numbers. To this first period of listening were added three other instances promoted by the General Secretariat: a specific online questionnaire for all young people of the world, the International Seminar on the Status of Youth, celebrated from 11 to 15 September 2017 and the Pre-Synodal Meeting of young people coming from from around the world 300 in the hall and 15,000 in the network), celebrated from 19 to 24 March this year.
The Instrumentum laboris, which was made public at the press conference held on 19 June of this year, as was explained at the time, represents the synthesis of all the material collected during the consultation referred to above.
With the solemn Eucharistic Celebration presided over by the Holy Father in the Basilica of Saint Peter this coming Wednesday, the celebratory assembly will begin on the synodal journey, which will last for 25 days. During this time the Synod Fathers will work together with the other participants, according to their own duties, on the Instrumentum laboris which will be the basic text for the elaboration of the Final Document. It will summarize the results achieved by the XV Ordinary General Assembly.
From October 3 onwards we will begin to experience the culminating moment of the long journey of preparation that has preceded this Synod. The precious patrimony of ideas and reflections which have so far emerged will allow us to achieve the objectives of this Synodal Assembly, among which are the following:
1. to make the whole Church aware of her missionary task of accompanying every young person, no one excluded, towards the joy of love, which Jesus Christ offers to the new generations;
2. to become aware of the universal scope of the concept of vocation and, consequently, of the link between youth ministry and pastoral vocation, which is expressed in the formula which is used several times by the Preparatory Document and taken up in the Instrumentum laboris: vocational youth ministry. Thus attention will be placed in this broad context with a particular accent on the ministerial vocation to the priesthood and to the consecrated life;
3. the ecclesial renewal desired by Pope Francis in Evangelii gaudium, according to which pastoral conversion is aimed at making sure that ecclesial structures become all more missionary ... in a constant attitude of 'going out' (n. 27).
I would like to briefly explain how the work of the Synod will be carried out. It will be divided into three work units, correlating with the three parts of the Working Document: Recognizing: the Church listening to reality (first part); Interpreting: faith and vocational discernment (second part); and Choosing: paths of pastoral and missionary conversion (third part).
During the inaugural session on the afternoon of 3 October, in addition to the Report of the General Secretary of the Synod, the Istrumentum laboris will be illustrated by the General Relator in broad lines and then, in an introductory manner, the presentation of the first part will take place. Afterwards, the interventions in the Synod Hall will begin, focusing on the first part of the Document.
Once these interventions have been completed, we will move on to the 14 smaller working groups divided into various languages (French, Italian, English, Portuguese, Spanish and German) where we will proceed to elaborate the collective modes of the basic text, or the Instrumentum laboris, which will then be delivered to the General Secretariat.
The interventions of the Synodal Fathers, the collective contributions of the working groups and the reports from the groups will be collected and summarized in a provisional supplementary text of the Instrumentum laboris at the end of each work unit.
According to the practice already developed in the recent General Assemblies on the family, which became normative beginning with the Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis communio, a Commission will be established for the elaboration of the final Document. It will coordinate and oversee the work of the Synodal texts. In fact, at the end of each work unit, received from the various working groups, the General Relator with the Special Secretaries, will meet with the other members of the Commission to proceed with the revision of the text of the relevant section of the Final Document. The outline of the work of the first unit, which ends with the 5th General Congregation on Tuesday 9 October, will be repeated similarly for the other two units of work, respectively, the XI General Congregation on Monday 15 October, and the XVII General Congregation on Monday October 22nd. Finally, the Commission will meet again to elaborate the draft of the Final Document.
The draft document will be presented in the morning of Wednesday, October 24 in the Synod Hall. The Synodal Fathers in the General Congregation that afternoon will be able to intervene further on the draft, both in oral and written form.
Subsequently, the aforementioned Commission will prepare the final text of the final document, which will be presented in the morning of Saturday, 27 October in the Synod Hall and in the afternoon, it will be submitted to the Synod Fathers and finally, once it has been voted on by them, will be delivered to the Supreme Pontiff, who is ultimately responsible for every decision on the matter.
I would like to point out that, since this is an Ordinary General Assembly, the Instruction, which today comes into force, as I said before, provides for the election of the new Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat, the XV, which will remain in office until the next Ordinary General Assembly. The election will take place during the XX General Congregation held on the afternoon of Friday October 26th, in the manner which will be indicated at the time.
The dissemination of news relating to the work of the Synod will be edited by the Dicastery for Communication, presided over by its Prefect, Doctor Paolo Ruffini, who in turn will be the President of the Synodal Commission for Information.
The main source of information will be the daily briefings and press conferences, coordinated by the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication: these appointments will be attended by the Synod Fathers and other participants at the Synod indicated from time to time by the Commission for information. Moreover, through the social networks (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) of Vatican News and the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, information on the progress of the work of the Synod will be disseminated and shared. It is also suggested that participants use the hashtag #Synod2018 for all languages in order to have a global overview of news concerning the Synod.
The Synod Fathers will be free to give interviews outside the Synod Hall as well as to generally communicate with the media at their discretion and responsibility, and of course in a personal capacity, maintaining the necessary confidentiality concerning the debates in the Synod Hall and in the working groups.
At the conclusion of my remarks, I can only wish you all my very best. I hope that news concerning this Synod which will be shared through your communication service will involve as many young people as possible and at the same time offer adults the opportunity to take action and to take initiatives to help them respond to their needs and dream of a future of hope. The Church - I would like to reaffirm - wants to do its part with this Synod and wants to do it with the determination and the strength that comes from its evangelizing mission.
Thank you for listening.
(Original text in Italian)
Presentation by His Eminence, Sérgio da Rocha
General Relator of the Synod on Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment
First of all a cordial greeting and thank you to all of you, for with your service, you accompany us on the synodal journey, helping the people of God and all people who are interested in following the most recent developments.
Cardinal Baldisseri has presented the global development of the Synodal sessions. In my intervention, I wish to explain further the role of the Instrumentum laboris as a reference for the Synod's work and to present a little more in detail the objective of the first part of the work, which will begin the day after tomorrow and will last approximately for the first week.
The journey of listening which preceded the Synod collected thousands of pages of testimonies, reflections and requests from all over the world; the Instrumentum laboris includes all these contributions, helping us to have a complete and integrated look at the issues we will have to deal with: it is therefore the framework of the work of the Synod and will accompany us daily, offering both a method and the content to be discussed.
Its structure is based on the style that was chosen in order that we might better walk together: discernment. There is no ready-made recipe to accompany young people to the faith and fullness of life, nor any pre-packaged solution to the many questions that the pre-synodal listening period has raised. It is so opportune that as a synodal assembly we move forward in a dynamic of discernment. To do so means to assume some precise attitudes:
1. The first is keeping our eyes and ears open, but also our minds and our hearts, like a sentinel who does not allow any sign of the changes taking place to escape him;
2. The second requirement for a good path of discernment is to know how to evaluate in the light of faith what is moving in the life of the world and of the Church, and in the interiority of each one of us;
3. Finally, we must stand amidst the wounds of history with hearts full of mercy, keeping the doors wide open to the God of tenderness who is continually acting in his people and making himself alive through the voice of the little ones and the poor.
Entering humbly into this way of proceeding, into this ecclesial style, is already the first pastoral response of a Church that wishes to be credible for younger generations.
Each of the three work units which will last about a week and will mark the synodal path is connected to one of the parts of the Instrumentum laboris, whose sequence reproposes the steps of a process of discernment: recognize, interpret, choose (cf EG 51). This will provide a dynamic orientation to the development of the sessions.
The first part is characterized by the verb to recognize: it means to start, in the light of faith, from the concreteness of the reality of young people to highlight the appeals and questions that God is addressing to his Church today.
The second part focuses on the verb to interpret: it is important that reality be illuminated by a biblical and anthropological, theological and ecclesiological, pedagogical and spiritual framework.
The third passage asks the synodal assembly to choose: the Church is called to take a position, to make courageous and perhaps even risky choices to create the conditions for an authentic pastoral, spiritual and missionary renewal of the Church.
Now I will concentrate on the first part, leaving the presentation of the work of the second and third parts for later.
In the coming days and throughout the first week of work, we will deal with the first part of the Instrumentum laboris, which is characterized by the verb to recognize: we will face reality not for sociological analysis, but with the disciple's gaze, scrutinizing the footsteps and the footprints of the Lord's path with an open and welcoming attitude. For those who care about young people and want to accompany them towards life in fullness, it is essential to know the realities that they live, beginning with the most painful ones such as discomfort, war, prison, migration and all other types of marginalization and poverty.
It will be equally necessary for us to be challenged by the concerns of young people, even when they question the Church's practices or raise complex issues such as affectivity and sexuality. In our ecclesial contexts it is very easy to talk about young people through hearsay, referring to stereotypes or models of youth that no longer exist. In this way, instead of listening and learning from reality, we idealize and idolize young people. Sometimes we refer to our own youth and we think that today's young people are living our experiences. But in this way we inevitably lose sight of the characteristic traits of today's young people, who live and are growing up in a very different context than even just a few years ago. With regard to the world of youth we are invited to recognize immediately that reality is more important than the idea (see Instrumentum laboris, n.4): our words concerning young people must start from the concreteness of reality.
Equally important is to become aware of the strengths of the Church's presence in the youth, and of our weaknesses, starting with the lack of familiarity with digital culture. In this first week the Synod Fathers are called in particular to make present the situation that young people live in the country from which each one comes and the way in which the local Church understands it: the path of preparation for the Synod has revealed profound differences between the different parts of the world. It is essential that through the Synod Fathers the freshness and originality of every context and of every land can make its own contribution. Communion in the Church is not done by making us all the same, but by sharing differences through respect, listening and dialogue.
Voices are often heard blaming young people for moving away from the Church. But many of them have experienced situations that lead them to affirm that it is the Church that has moved away from the young. And they openly tell us about this perception. In many cases they have not heard the voice of the Church and do not feel that she is close and welcoming, especially in the most tiring moments of their journey of human growth. So we will have to ask ourselves: are we a significant community for young people today? How can they be protagonists in the life of the Church? What conversions and prophetic gestures are needed to regain the trust and esteem of the younger generations?
This is the task that awaits us. The style of discernment with which we intend to face it will give substance to our reflections and prayers and will open us to listening to the voice of the Spirit. Only in this way can this synodal period ripen the fruit of conversions between hearts and minds and of renewal of pastoral practices. Following the Gospel image, it is a matter of preparing new wineskins for the new wine, because no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will split the wineskins, and wine and wineskins are lost. But new wine in new wineskins! (Mk 2:22).
The task of the Synod Fathers will therefore above all be that of being available to God's action within them, sure of Jesus' promise: Where there are two or three gathered in my name, there am I in their midst (Mt 18:20). The Lord Jesus will be mysteriously, but also daily and concretely present in our midst through his Spirit, who continues to lead His Church.
Thank you for your attention; continue your good work.
(Original text in Italian)
Presentation by His Excellency, Fabio Fabene
Under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops
Instruction concerning the celebration of the Synodal Assemblies
and the activity of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
As Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri mentioned in his speech, the Instruction on the celebration of the Synodal Assemblies and the activity of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops is published with the date of today, in implementation of Article 26 of the recent Apostolic Constitution of Pope Francis Episcopalis communio (September 15, 2018).
It is an essentially applicable text and, for this reason, must be read in profound unity with the Pontifical Document from which it originates. As the recent Apostolic Constitution takes the place of the Motu Proprio Apostolica sollicitudo of Blessed Paul VI, so the new Instruction takes over from the Ordo Synodi Episcoporum, which in the course of about fifty years has known different editions, up to the last approved by Benedict XVI in 2006.
A significant part of the articles of the previous Ordo converge in the Instruction published today, a sign that the restructuring of the synodal organism, desired by Pope Francis from the beginning of his pontificate, is not a break with the past, but is fulfilled in the continuity of teaching in its development.
The articles follow a sequential order, as evidenced by the two parts in which the Instruction is divided. The first part deals with the subjects: the Roman Pontiff; the Synodal Members or Fathers appointed for the different types of Assembly; the General Secretariat with its Councils; the offices and bodies during the Synod Assemblies, namely the Delegated President, the General Relator, the Special Secretary, the Commission for Information, the Commission for the drafting of the Final Document, the Study Commissions and the Commission for Disputes. The second part, on the other hand, deals with procedures: it is here, among other things, that the discussion of the topics in the General Congregations and the study groups is regulated, and the voting methods in the groups, the Commission for the drafting of the Final Document and of the Synodal Assembly.
Certainly, there is no shortage of significant news, in line with the broad renewal sanctioned by Episcopalis communio, which in turn has incorporated and clarified the innovations currently introduced in the Synod Assemblies celebrated during the pontificate of Pope Francis.
Among them I would like to point out one of them in particular: the extension of the General Secretariat of the Synod, due to the fact that the Ordinary Council will henceforth be composed of twenty-one Bishops, sixteen of whom are elected by the Ordinary General Assembly. Among the latter, one Bishop will come from the Eastern Catholic Churches and the other fifteen from the Latin rite Churches distinguished on a geographical basis: two Bishops will represent North America, three will represent Latin America, three will represent Europe, three Africa, three Asia and one Oceania.
In implementation of Episcopalis communio (Article 24, § 2), only diocesan Bishops may be elected, in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, asking that, to assist the Pope, a permanent central organism composed of Pastors responsible for local Churches be established. In addition to the elected members there will be the Head of the Dicastery of the Roman Curia competent for the theme of the Synod Assembly, once this has been established by the Holy Father, and four other members appointed by pontifical nomination.
In conclusion, beyond the individual aspects, what we need to highlight is the overall orientation which, in line with Episcopalis communio, animates the Instruction: all functions and procedures are regulated in order to facilitate as much as possible the debate and the exchange of opinions among the Synodal Fathers, so as to bring out the richness of the voices of the Churches scattered throughout the earth. In this way, the Synod appears to all appearances as a peculiar expression of the indissoluble bond that unites the Bishops with each other and with the Pope in service to the People of God.
(Original text in Italian)
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