CV NEWS FEED // The Vatican said members of the Synod on Synodality will produce two documents by the close of the month-long event in Rome next week.

Cardinal Mario Grech, General Secretary of the Synod, said in a press release this week that the members of the synod will create a temporary synthesis report as well as a “Letter of the Assembly to the People of God” from the Synodal Fathers (which consists of all synod delegates, including the women).

Unlike previous synods, which produced an official document with a synodal proposal offered to the Pope, this synthesis document will only contain a summary of the subjects discussed during the synodal meetings and the level of consensus reached about each subject.  

During the last session of the synod, delegates will vote, paragraph by paragraph, on what to include in the synthesis report. October 29 is the last day of the synod.

Meanwhile, on Monday, October 23, the “Letter of the Assembly to the People of God,” currently being drafted by a committee, will be presented to the synod delegates. They will first discuss it in the circuli minores, or small circles, and then in the general assembly.

Cardinal Grech also said in the press release that synod delegates will be able to make recommendations for next year’s meeting based on their experience this month using the new discussion methodology known as “conversation in the Spirit,”   

The complex discussion methodology includes small group discussions overseen by a facilitator, who controls who speaks, as well as the timing and even the nature of the discussions.  

The second and final session of the Synod on Synodality will take place in October 2024. That session will conclude with an official, final document intended to help the Catholic Church become more “synodal.”

Cardinal Jean-Calude Hollerich, general rapporteur of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, said on Monday that the participants were “very tired” after two weeks of daily meetings, which included Saturdays.

Thus, Grech said the synod will pause twice during its final week to provide days of “vacation” for the participants. There are no synod meetings on Tuesday, October 24, or on Friday, October 27. 
All synod participants are invited to attend the prayer for peace, which Pope Francis announced will take place in St. Peter’s Basilica at 6:00 PM on Friday, October 27.

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