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Synod on Synodality delegates seated at discussion tables inside Paul VI Hall at the Vatican in October 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez | CNA

Synod on Synodality 2023: Work Begins on the Final Text as Second Week Wraps up

Oct 14, 2023

The past week risked being overshadowed by a letter about the German Synodal Way shared with Synod participants by Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the relator general of the 16th Annual General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. | Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Synod Addressing “some of the key points” from Today: Synod General Rapporteur

Oct 13, 2023

The Synod's relator general stressed, "The purpose of the mission is precisely to extend the scope of communion, enabling more and more people to meet the Lord and accept his call to be part of his people.”

Synod of Synodality delegates tour the catacombs of St. Sebastian. Rome, Italy, Oct. 13, 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez

Synod Delegates Make a Pilgrimage to Rome’s Catacombs

Oct 13, 2023

Hundreds of delegates took a break from their discussions of synodality to visit the catacombs of St. Sebastian and St. Callistus located on Rome’s ancient Appian Way on Oct. 12. 

Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda, Cameroon, said at an Oct. 12 briefing that the Synod on Synodality is “a chance for the voice of Africa to be heard.” | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Africa, Oceania Delegates Say Synod on Synodality their Turn to Speak

Oct 12, 2023

Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda, Cameroon, said at an Oct. 12 briefing that the Synod on Synodality is “a chance for the voice of Africa to be heard.”

Pope Francis received President-Designate of COP28 UAE Dr. Sultan Al Jaber on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

COP28 President-designate Meets with Pope Francis to Discuss Common Climate Goals 

Oct 12, 2023

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber from the UAE met the pope on Wednesday at the Vatican ahead of the COP28 meeting taking place in Dubai Nov. 30 to Dec. 12. 

Delegates meet at round tables during the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 10, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Synod on Synodality Members Ask "for greater discernment" of Church Teaching on Sexuality

Oct 11, 2023

Spokesman Paolo Ruffini told the media that while some have asked for further discernment on the Church’s teaching, others said there’s no need for it.

Josephine Bakhita. | A.Currell via Flickr (CC BY NC 2.0)

Pope Francis Highlights St. Josephine Bakhita’s Example of Forgiveness

Oct 11, 2023

The Sudanese-Italian saint’s life story is “an existential parable of forgiveness,” the pope said Wednesday.

Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 6, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis has Lunch with Rome’s Poor Who Tell him "what they expect from the Church"

Oct 11, 2023

Like the synod assembly participants, the lunch guests were asked “what they expect from the Church,” Paolo Ruffini told journalists Oct. 11.

Delegates meet at round tables during the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 10, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Synod on Synodality: Who is Overseeing the Draft Report at the End of the Assembly?

Oct 10, 2023

Synod on Synodality delegates elected this week the members of a commission who will supervise the drafting of a “synthesis report.”

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich (left), relator general of the Synod on Synodality, and Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod, at the Oct. 9, 2023, general congregation. | Credit: Vatican Media

Synod on Synodality Asks Members to Foster Communion with the Marginalized

Oct 10, 2023

“All are invited to be part of the Church,” Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich said at the start of the Oct. 9 general congregation.

Alexandra Lande / Shutterstock.

Pope Francis Calls Gaza Priest as Israel Announces Blockade

Oct 10, 2023

The pope called Father Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Holy Family Church, the only Catholic Church in Gaza City and in the Gaza Strip, Oct. 9, AgenSir reported.

Delegates at the Synod on Synodality participate in small-group round table discussions Oct. 9, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican Safeguarding Group Calls on Synod on Synodality to Address Abuse in the Church

Oct 10, 2023

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has called on the synod to discuss sexual abuse this month.

Synod on Synodality delegates in small groups listen on Oct. 4, 2023, to Pope Francis’ guidance for the upcoming weeks. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

This Week at the Synod on Synodality: Deliberations and Veiled Agendas

Oct 9, 2023

Concerns linger about the potential for pressure groups to sway the synod’s course.

A blessing service at St. Augustin Catholic church in Würzburg, Germany, for couples, including those of the same-sex, May 10, 2021. | Gehrig/CNA Deutsch.

TIMELINE: What has the Catholic Church said about Same-sex "blessings"?

Oct 9, 2023

Here’s a timeline of how the controversy over same-sex blessings has unfolded.

Credit: Myriam B/Shutterstock

FACT CHECK: Did 118 Participants at the Synod on Synodality Really Come Down with COVID?

Oct 9, 2023

After consulting doctors, Cardinal Mario Grech said there was no reason to be alarmed about the spread of COVID at the synod.

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, archbishop of Kinshasa, speaks during a press briefing on the Amazon Synod at the Holy See Press Office on Oct. 22, 2019. Speaking at a press conference for the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican on Oct. 7, 2023, the Congolese cardinal said the initiative is providing “new ways to address problems, whatever they are” with “a spirit of synodality.” | Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Outcome of Synod Will be Welcomed as the "will of God,’" says African Cardinal

Oct 8, 2023

Congolese Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu described synodality as “a new way of being a Church.”

Pope Francis prays during a general audience in St. Peter's Square on Sept. 20, 2023. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, patriarch of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, celebrates Easter Sunday Mass at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on April 4, 2021. | Credit: (L) Daniel Ibanez/CNA. (R) Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Pope Francis, Jerusalem Patriarch React to Violence Between Israel and Hamas

Oct 8, 2023

The pope issued an appeal Sunday to “please stop weapons attacks!”

Pope Francis, the round tables at the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican, Cardinal Joseph Zen, and Paolo Ruffini. | Credit: EWTN News

Synod on Synodality 2023: Facts, Anecdotes, and Analysis from the First Week

Oct 7, 2023

Facts, anecdotes, and analysis from the first week of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican.

Speaking at a press briefing on Oct. 6, Vatican spokesman Paolo Ruffini said that there needs to be “a certain amount of confidentiality about who takes the floor and who doesn't in order to leave the space open … for ‘conversation in the Spirit.’” | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Secrecy at the Synod on Synodality: What we know about delegates’ confidentiality requirements  

Oct 6, 2023

The Synod on Synodality’s official regulations no longer allow Synod delegates to share their personal interventions with the public. 

The Synod on Synodality convened on Wednesday, Oct 4, 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

What is Being Discussed During the First Week of the Synod on Synodality?

Oct 5, 2023

During the first full day of work Oct. 5, participants met in small groups of about 12 people where they received a homework assignment.