Isaac Gomes –
Kolkata: The much-awaited General Assembly of the Synod on Synodality begins on Wednesday, October 4 2023, following a two-year process that started in September 2021 when the Vatican released a preparatory document and instructions on preparing for the gathering.
Hundreds of Catholics from around the world then met in their parishes to discuss the questions posed by the synod. The syntheses of those conversations were then sent to their respective Bishops’ Conferences that are tasked with bringing all voices to the table.
Finally, representatives of the episcopal conferences met at the continental level, the final stage before the General Assembly, which itself will take place in two parts, beginning with the gathering in 2023 and concluding with a second meeting in October of 2024.
The notable feature is that two mainland China bishops – Antonio Yao Shun, the bishop of Jining (Wumeng), and Joseph Yang Yongqiang, the bishop of Zhoucun in Shandong Province – have been given permission by Beijing to participate in the Synod deliberations. The secretariat for the synod broke the news when it published the final list of the 464 participants at noon on 21 September, along with a calendar of the main synod events.
Bishop Antonio Yao Shun was the first bishop to be ordained after the signing of the provisional agreement between the Holy See and China in 2018 on the joint nomination of bishops; and Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang was ordained in 2010 with the approval of the pope and is currently vice president of the Chinese bishops’ conference.
This means that a total of four Chinese-speaking bishops will participate in the synod, the other two being the Jesuit bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal-elect Stephen Chow, chosen by the pope, and Bishop Norbert Pu of the Diocese of Chiayi, Taiwan, elected by the Chinese Regional Bishops’ Conference (the episcopal conference of Taiwan).
It is the second time that Catholic bishops from mainland China have been allowed by the authorities in Beijing to participate in a synod of bishops. Two bishops, representing mainland China’s 12 million Catholics, were allowed to participate in the synod on young people in 2018.
Bishop de San Martín, presenting the final list of names at a Vatican press briefing, said the synod will have 365 members, “like the number of days in a year”; that includes 364 members with the right to vote, plus Pope Francis, who is president of the synod. Among the full members are 54 women.
The total number of participants at the synod, however, is 464, of whom 81 are women; this number includes experts and fraternal delegates. Furthermore, the 61 experts and facilitators do not have a vote at the synod. The same is true for 12 fraternal delegates who will attend the synod, including representatives from several Orthodox churches and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Anglican communion, the World Methodist Council, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the World Baptist Alliance, the World Pentecostal Fraternity and the Disciples of Christ.
Giacomo Costa, S.J., the Italian-born special secretary to the synod, presented the calendar of work events for the synod which will officially open with a Mass in St. Peter’s Square on the morning of October 4.
The calendar reveals the methodology that will be followed, whereby over the month-long ecclesial events (Oct. 4-29) members will focus on five modules as outlined in the working document (instrumentum laboris), which was published on June 20. The five modules are: “toward a synodal church,” communion, mission, participation and a synthesis document.
Most of the work will be done in 35 small groups, with 10 or 11 members in each group plus a facilitator, divided according to language and using the methodology of “conversation in the Spirit,” characterized by “shared prayer with a view to communal discernment.”
There will also be plenary sessions, at which the small groups will report back to the assembly. There will be five official language groups at the synod, but a pre-synod survey revealed that English will be the most-spoken language, followed by Italian. As a result of this, there will be 14 small groups in English, followed by eight in Italian, seven in Spanish, five in French and one in Portuguese. Documents will be produced in English and Italian.
On being asked if the synod deliberations will be “under the pontifical secret,” meaning that participants are required to maintain confidentiality regarding their deliberations, Paolo Ruffini, the prefect of the Dicastery for Communications who will serve as president of the Commission for Information, said it is not exactly precise to speak of pontifical secret; it is more correct to speak of “confidentiality” or “reserve,” as is appropriate for an ecclesial event, a spiritual event, that involves conversation in the Spirit. He concluded by noting that the regulations for the synod have not yet been published, and so it is not possible to give a final answer to the question.
Mr. Ruffini announced that a press conference will be held on the eve of the synod, but he did not give a date for that.