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As the final week of this year's gathering unfolds amid contentious discussions, anticipation is rising for the publication of the Synod on Synodality’s summary report.
Invoking the Virgin Mary as the Queen of Peace and Mother of Mercy, Pope Francis implored her in St. Peter's Basilica to “intercede for our world in danger and turmoil” and to “convert those who fuel and foment conflicts.”
Wyatt Olivas, 19, approached Pope Francis to ask if the pontiff would sign a letter requesting a few days of rest after the Synod before Olives heads back to classes at the University of Wyoming.
Their prayer intentions focused on those killed, wounded, and displaced by war, and included reflections on the past month’s work of the Synod, before the first session comes to a close this weekend.
Pope Francis denounced clericalism and called it a “scandal” to see young priests buying lace vestments at tailor shops in a strongly-worded speech.
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost noted that the Catholic Church is not a mirror image of society and “needs to be different.”
Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki said Thursday one difficulty of synodality lies in distinguishing pastoral practice — which can be adapted — from Church doctrine.
Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, the primatial archbishop of Mexico, downplayed the issues that have generated some controversy during the Synod on Synodality.
“This is not about ideology but about an experience rooted in the apostolic tradition,” says the letter inviting the faithful to play a larger role in“the discernment and decision-making” of the Church.
At his weekly general audience, Pope Francis recounted the story of Sts. Cyril and Methodius as one of encounter with the Slavic people.
Catholics in the world numbered 1,375,852,000 people at the end of 2021, with an overall increase of 16.2 million compared with the previous year.
The letter, expected to arrive Oct. 28, will serve as a compass, signaling the direction of a continuing synodal journey.
“These 11 months will be like a pregnancy,” Father Timothy Radcliffe told the synod delegates. “We, my brothers and sisters, are pregnant with new life.”
“Saddam Hussein was certainly not a little angel, on the contrary,” Francis said, “but Iraq was a fairly stable country.”
Myanmar’s Cardinal Charles Maung Bo described the Synod of Synodality as “a long march of hope for all humanity” during a Mass on Monday.
Tradition “was a major point of discussion at the Second Vatican Council,” Father Ormond Rush said Monday.
During Sunday’s Angelus, Pope Francis spoke to the faithful on the importance of the correct relationship between the Church and the state.
Bishop Overbeck cites Germany's "post-secular" context amid Synod's discussions on "decentralization."
“We’ve got to be careful about blaming everything — all our opinions, our interests, lobbies, and factions — putting all that on the Holy Spirit,” he said.
The archbishop of Durango, Mexico, Faustino Armendáriz, commented that “it’s a challenge to seek the will of God” at the Synod on Synodality.