Listening to the Faithful: Vatican releases Synod Preparatory Document

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The General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops has presented the base text and 'Vademecum' - or handbook - to guide the journey of the Synod on Synodality.

Listening without prejudice; speaking out with courage and parrhesia; dialoguing with the Church, with society, and with the other Christian confessions are among the guiding principles that will direct the path of the Synod on Synodality.

The solemn opening of the Synod will take place in Rome on October 9-10, and in the particular Churches on October 17; and will conclude in the Vatican in 2023 with the assembly of bishops from around the world.

The Preparatory Document, released on Tuesday, is intended above all to be an instrument facilitating the first phase of listening and consultation of the People of God in the particular Churches, which will take place from October 2021 to April 2022.

"In other words," as the document says, "it constitutes a sort of construction site or pilot experience that makes it possible to immediately begin reaping the fruits of the dynamic that progressive synodal conversion introduces into the Christian community."

The text opens with the fundamental question: "How does this 'journeying together,' which takes place today on different levels (from the local level to the universal one), allow the Church to proclaim the Gospel in accordance with the mission entrusted to Her; and what steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow as a synodal Church?"

LINKS

Synod base text - https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2021/09/07/210907a.html

Vademecum - www.synod.va/en/news/vademecum-for-the-synod-on-synodality.html