Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies: Southern Africa Bishops Share Best Wishes ahead of Meeting in Rome

“I wish the synodal team the best and then God's blessings on them as they seek to usher in a new way of looking at reality, a new way of being,” Bishop Masilo, who serves as Auxiliary Bishop of South Africa’s Pretoria Catholic Archdiocese, said.

He added, “As the book of Revelation says, God will make everything new. And this is our hope — that through their work, God will make everything new.”

On his part, Bishop Vincent Mduduzi Zungu of the Catholic Diocese of Port Elizabeth underscored the importance of the synodal spirit as a way of becoming a truly “listening Church.”

“For many of our synodal teams and especially those who have been so much involved with the whole synodal experience, especially as delegates and those who will be going once again to Rome, it is important to actually bring back to us the good news from our Holy Father and to continue to encourage us as a region to this idea of becoming a listening Church,” the chair of the Department for Formation, Life, and Apostolate of the Laity of SACBC, said.

He envisioned “a Church that is attentive before it can share what it has, a Church that is observant, that looks out, that continues to discern the signs of the times, and a Church also that will attempt seriously to implement the document that has come out regarding synodality.”

Bishop Sithembele Anton Sipuka of South Africa’s Catholic Diocese of Mthatha, sent his best wishes to the South African synodal team as they travel to Rome, saying, “I wish them well as they go there, and I look forward to hearing from them when they come back. Safe trip and God bless.”

Meanwhile, Archbishop Zeferino Zeca Martins of Angola’s Catholic Archdiocese of Huambo offered words of spiritual encouragement, invoking the guidance of the Holy Spirit upon all those participating.

“I wish you all the assistance of the Holy Spirit, in such a way that these new times, these new breaths that the Universal Church is living and sharing, are actually a moment of reunion of several faces, several souls, but that agree to the building of the same Church,” the Angolan member of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) said.

In 2021, Pope Francis officially inaugurated the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the Synod on Synodality, as a multi-year journey to be realized under the theme, “For a synodal Church: Communion, participation and mission.”

The first session of the Synod on Synodality, which Pope Francis extended to 2024, took place from 4-29 October 2023, concluding with a 42-page summary report.

A 52-page Final Document of the XVI Assembly followed the 2-27 October 2024 second session of the Synod on Synodality. The Synod members approved the Final Document on 26 October 2024. On his part, Pope Francis approved its publication; he chose to directly implement it instead of the usual practice of issuing a Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation.

The Document that was approved by 355 Synod members in attendance outlines substantial proposals for Church renewal, including proposals to expand women’s leadership roles, greater lay participation in decision-making, and significant structural reforms such as a call to strengthen pastoral councils at Parish and Diocesan levels, and having regular ecclesiastical assemblies across all Church levels, and heightening ecumenical dialogue.

The upcoming event in Rome will open at 3:00 p.m. with a live-streamed session on Vatican News and the channels of the General Secretariat of the Synod. 

Among the speakers in event is Grzegorz Wojciech Cardinal Ryś, of Łódź Archdiocese in Poland, who will reflect on “Synodality in the face of tensions within the Church”.

Rev. Prof. Miguel de Salis Amaral of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (PUSC), will speak on “The conversion of relationships”, and Dr. Mariana Aparecida Venâncio, member of the synodal team of the Episcopal Conference of Brazil (CNBB), will address “Synodality as Social Prophecy.”

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At 5:45 p.m., participants will have an encounter dialogue with Pope Leo XIV, during which representatives from seven regions of the world will present reports on the challenges and progress of synodality in their local contexts. 

The session will also include a musical contribution by Fr. Cristóbal Fones, S.J., Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.

On Saturday, 25 October, the day opens at 8:00 a.m. with a pilgrimage and passage through the Holy Door. From 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., participants will engage in “Conversations in the Spirit”, held in more than 100 small language-based groups sharing experiences and reflections.

The late morning and early afternoon will feature 25 language-based workshops and six thematic seminars exploring missionary and synodal conversion in the Church. 

A final session, live-streamed from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., will present synodal experiences and best practices, hosted by Enrico Selleri (TV2000) and Paola Arriaza (EWTN), with musical performances by the group ScalaMusic.

At 9:00 p.m., pilgrims and participants will gather in St. Peter’s Square for a Marian vigil.

The celebration will conclude on Sunday, 26 October, with a Solemn Holy Mass presided over by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10:00 a.m., marking the official closing of the Jubilee.