Synod: Presentation of draft final document

Press conference - Screenshot

Source: Vatican Media

The draft of the Synod Final Document was distributed today, Monday October 21, to all participants.

Speaking during the daily Vatican press briefing Dr Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication and President of the Synod's Commission for Information, said: "We have reached a crucial moment".

Sheila Pires, Secretary of the Commission for Information, noted :"we are now in the final week of the Synod on Synodality."

The day began with Mass in St Peter's Basilica, where Cardinal Mario Grech emphasized in his homily that the Synod should be seen as a new beginning, aimed at proclaiming the Word of God to all.

Afterward, the General Congregation-attended by 351 members-opened with a meditation by Father Timothy Radcliffe on the themes of freedom and responsibility.

Then, the draft of the Final Document was presented by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich. Described as a "provisional text," it was emphasized that it requires confidentiality-not because of a lack of transparency but to maintain a positive atmosphere for discussion.

Each participant received a copy of the draft, which is the result of collaborative work.

Pires said the draft, "is not just the product of the discussions in the assembly but draws on a rich process and incorporates all the work done over the years during the various phases of the synodal journey."

She also noted that "Special rapporteurs and experts worked hard to carefully listen to what was said and examined the reports from the smaller groups." The contributions of theologians were "significant both for the document and for the forums."

"This afternoon," Pires said, "participants will gather in their smaller groups for a true exchange of gifts, as Cardinal Grech put it, to 'share challenges, dreams, inner dynamics, and new motivations that emerged from reading the text.' It is a new way of experiencing a retreat, perhaps an unfamiliar one."

Monday was devoted to prayer, meditation, and sharing the draft of the final document.

Pires added that the morning session closed with a prayer for Jesuit priest Marcelo Pérez, who was murdered yesterday in Chiapas, Mexico, shortly after celebrating Mass in his parish in Cuxtitali, a neighbourhood of San Cristóbal de Las Casas.

At the briefing, the speakers were: Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Fr Timothy Radcliffe, spiritual advisor to the Synod, Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod, and Mgr Manuel Nin Güell, apostolic exarch for Byzantine-rite Catholics in Greece.

Cardinal Zuppi reflected on the experience of dialogue throughout the synod, describing it as "not instrumental, but foundational to the Church itself."

He pointed to the tables where participants sit to speak, listen, and encounter each other in a process that, he stressed, is always a spiritual one.

Fr Radcliffe reflected on the journey of renewal the Church is currently undertaking, a journey that will emerge in the final document. He emphasized that the document should not be seen as a place for decisions or headline-grabbing statements.

In the face of society's disintegration, war, and the difficult times the world is enduring, the Church has a particular vocation: to be a sign of Christ, a sign of peace, and to remain in communion with Christ.

Through this Synod, Fr Radcliffe said, a new way of imagining the Church is emerging, and the final document will present images to display that, much as Jesus used parables to announce the Kingdom.

Sister Nathalie Becquart, Undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod, shared insights about the fraternal atmosphere among the ecumenical delegates. She is involved in the Synod's Commission for Ecumenism. The Synod gives us a new image of being Church, she said, referring to the image of the Pope sitting among participants, listening, and also to the image from the ecumenical prayer service, where participants prayed together, remembering the martyrdom of St Peter.

This, she said, opened a new phase for ecumenical relations and Christian unity, as this Synod introduces a new way of understanding the exercise of papal primacy and the collegiality of bishops and the entire People of God.

The Synod is offering an opportunity for deeper understanding, explained Bishop Manuel Nin Güell, Apostolic Exarch for Byzantine Rite Catholics in Greece, who leads a small community that was established about a century ago.

This community formed when many Greek refugees arrived in Athens following the Greco-Turkish War. The Exarchate comprises two parishes: one is the cathedral in Athens, and the other is located about 500 kilometers north, near Thessaloniki, in Yannitsa.

There are seven priests-two Greeks, one Slovak, and one Chaldean.

The three communities of the Exarchate include Greek Catholics, Ukrainian Catholics who arrived about 28 years ago after the fall of Communism in Ukraine (and more recently, due to the war), and Chaldean Catholics, who are Iraqi Christians of the East Syrian tradition.

The Exarchate also operates a Caritas organization that works with Orthodox Christians and Muslims, and it has a foundation for individuals with autism.

Bishop Nin pointed out that the Exarchate in Greece is a sui iuris Church within the Catholic tradition. Not everyone is aware of this, and the Synod has provided an opportunity to become acquainted with the role of Eastern Catholic Churches, which share the same liturgies, theology, spirituality, and canonical disciplines as their Orthodox sister Churches.

Cardinal Fernández, Prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith, emphasized during the Synod's general congregation on Monday moprning that the Pope feels the issue of women deacons is not yet ready to be addressed.

However, the discussion on women's roles in the Church was a key focus of the briefing's concluding session.

Fr Radcliffe urged people not to focus solely on ordination but to also consider the higher positions women have held throughout history as Doctors of the Church. If we reduce everything to ordination, he said, we risk slipping into a very clerical mindset.

Sr Becquart reinforced these point, emphasizing that women already hold high-level positions in the Church, such as presidents of Catholic universities, leaders of organizations like Caritas, or heads of sections within Episcopal Conferences.

She explained that there are many ways to promote women's leadership, and many bishops are now appointing women as general diocesan delegates, giving them a role in governance.

Sr Becquart added that social and cultural obstacles still remain because the Church is part of society. For example, she said, when talking to Anglican bishops, it's often clear that a man's contributions in church settings are given more weight than a woman's, even when women have been ordained.

Thus, a true conversion of mentality is needed, and it will take time. We inherit mindsets not just from the Church but from the society in which we live, noted Becquart.

Watch the press conference here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=629si6Aa8JQ

See the interview with Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP: www.youtube.com/watch?v=629si6Aa8JQ

and Fr Timothy Radcliffe's reflection: www.indcatholicnews.com/news/50912