The XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (First Session) will take place in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican from the 4th to the 29th October. This year's theme is "For a synodal Church: communion, participation, mission".
This stage marks the conclusion of the first phase of this Synod, launched by Pope Francis in October 2021: during these two years, the local Churches from all over the world have consulted and listened to the People of God on the basis of the question: "How is this "walking together", which enables the Church to proclaim the Gospel in accordance with the mission entrusted to her, realised today at different levels (from the local to the universal); and what steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow as a synodal Church?".
The responses received were collected, processed, synthesised and shared with the Synods of Eastern Catholic Churches and the Episcopal Conferences. At the end of this period of listening, the General Secretariat of the Synod prepared an Instrumentum Laboris to guide the participants in their work.
In its pages we read the following: "The Synodal Assembly is called to listen attentively to the situations in which the Church lives and carries out her mission [...]. What is at stake is the ability to proclaim the Gospel by walking together with the men and women of our time, wherever they are, and the practice of catholicity lived by walking together with the Churches that live in conditions of particular suffering" (IL, 5).
It is precisely on the theme of listening that the Letter of the Minister and General Definitorium of OFM for the Solemnity of Saint Francis of Assisi focuses, which will be celebrated on 4 October: a sign of living communion with the Pope and with the synodal journey of the Church.
The second and final session of the Synod will take place in October 2024.
The Synod of Bishops was instituted by Pope Paul VI in 1965, in response to the Council Fathers' desire to keep alive the spirit of the Council itself. With the Apostolic Letter in the form of a Motu Proprio, "Apostolica sollicitudo", Paul VI established the Synod as a consultative assembly composed not only of the Bishops of the Catholic College of Bishops, but also of priests, religious and lay people who are invited from time to time for their experience and expertise