Young people have lessons they could teach the Church about synodality, Pope Francis says.

"They have asked us in a thousand ways to walk alongside them — not behind them or ahead of them, but at their side. Not over them or under them, but on their level."

Francis made the comment in the introduction to a new Italian book of essays about youth ministry.

"Around the Living Fire of the Synod: Educating for the Good Life of the Gospel," was written by Fr Rossano Sala, a Salesian priest.

Sala was one of the special secretaries of the 2018 Synod of Bishops on young people.

"Discernment" was one of the key topics at the synod. It was also a key focus in "Christus Vivit," Francis' 2019 post-synod apostolic exhortation.

In his comment in Sala's book, Francis says he is not trying "to transform every member of the people of God into a Jesuit."

The Jesuit order specialises in teaching spiritual discernment or prayerfully reading the signs of the times and seeking to know how God wants individuals and the church to respond.

Some people think "the pressing call to discernment is a fad of this pontificate and it is destined to pass quickly," Francis says.

However, in his view the spiritual practice is essential today when things are changing quickly. Many people are struggling and many need to hear the Gospel, he says.

To achieve spiritual discernment, listening and dialogue are key first steps, Francis wrote.

"It is more necessary than ever today to enter into an honest listening to the joys and struggles of every member of the people of God, and especially of every young person.

"The church as a whole still has a lot of work to do" in learning to listen "because too often, instead of being 'experts in humanity,' we end up being considered rigid and incapable of listening."

The Gospel shows us that listening was the first attitude of Jesus. It should be our first response to encountering another person made in God's image and loved by God, Francis explained.

Dialogue is the natural second step, he continued.

"It is born from the conviction that in the other, the one who is before us, there are always the resources of nature and grace.

"Dialogue is the style that exalts the generosity of God because it recognizes his presence in everything and, therefore, one must find him in every person and be courageous enough to let him speak," he wrote.

There are many signals showing the church it must change. These include the digital revolution, the climate crisis, migration and "the plague of abuse" and the COVID-19 pandemic, Francis wrote. These are "transforming everyone's existence and we don't know where it will lead."

Francis says the choice to focus on "synodality" at the next general assembly of the Synod of Bishops, in 2022, is a natural outcome of the synod on young people.

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• National Catholic Reporter
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She said young people are looking for an encounter with each other, with the church and with the sacraments, in ways that are relevant for them.

It requires a willingness to "interlink with each other more and hold each other up."

McCafferty was one of two young adults selected by the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference to participate in the international forum held at a retreat centre just south of Rome last month.

The forum followed up on the Synod of Bishops on young people, faith, and vocational discernment which took place last year.

She said Catholic young adults felt the hierarchy had started listening to them in preparation for the 2018 Synod.

And they will do whatever they can to make sure their voices continue to be heard.

But they also want to be part of the actual implementation of the changes.

Young people want authenticity
McCafferty says the greatest desire of young adults is for the church to be authentic.

"Authenticity is about transparency, it's about vulnerability at times, but it's also about ground level, about being community."

It always involves person-to-person contact.

"When a young adult goes to a parish church regularly for months and only one person talks to him or her — it happens," she said, "it tells the young adult that an authentic, caring community does not exist there."

280 people between the ages of 18 and 29 from 109 countries took part in the Forum.

Following the Synod, Pope Francis published Christus Vivit, a 50-page letter to "all Christian young people" on April 2.

McCafferty called Christus Vivit "a constant source of encouragement in my own faith journey and inspired me in my ministry.

"The challenge of course now is to enable its richness to reach those who need to hear the heart of the document."

Source

• cnstopstories.com
• catholicnewsagency.com
• Image: crosswalk.com

Called Christus Vivit, the document is 180 pages long and takes into consideration not only what was said during the Synod of Bishops but also what the youth said during a pre-synod gathering that took place in Rome several months earlier. Though some 200 people were in attendance, thousands more participated through Facebook. Read more

The Church has to acknowledge a history of male domination and sexual abuse of women and children and it must repair its reputation among young people or risk becoming "a museum", he says.

Francis made these comments in the 50-page "Apostolic Exhortation" he released on Tuesday, written in response to last October's synod of the world's bishops on ministering to young Catholics.

The "youth" synod took place against the Church's clergy sex abuse crisis. Demands for greater women's rights within the Church were among the issues discussed.

Among the bishops' recommendations at the end of the synod was one saying the need for women to hold positions of responsibility and decision-making in the church is "a duty of justice."

In response, Francis's Exhortation says a church that listens to young people must be attentive to women's "legitimate claims" for equality and justice, as well as better train both men and women with leadership potential.

"A living church can look back on history and acknowledge a fair share of male authoritarianism, domination, various forms of enslavement, abuse and sexist violence.

"With this outlook, she [the Church] can support the call to respect women's rights, and offer convinced support for greater reciprocity between males and females, while not agreeing with everything some feminist groups propose," Francis's Exhortation says.

He does not, however, respond to demands by women participants at the synod that they be allowed to vote in future synods.

Although Francis acknowledges women's claims are legitimate and and notes young people are complaining of a "lack of leading female role models," his Exhortation offers no new ideas as to how to rectify this.

Source

• Reuters
• ABC
• Time
• Image: YouTube

Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has often expressed the desire for a more "synodal" style of Church life, and commentators on Catholic affairs now increasingly speak of "synodality".

What do they mean?

It is often suggested that "synodality" refers to the Church's experience of journeying together.

The verb syn-odeuo does indeed mean to "journey together".

But the noun synodos, in both classical and Christian Greek, denotes an assembly convened to make a decision. It is the purpose of the "coming together", and not the journeying process itself, which is the key to its meaning.

In the West, the word has usually been translated as "council" when referring to the Ecumenical Councils, where the bishops of the world gather to define doctrine and discipline for the whole Church.

Historically, the word "synod" has referred to gatherings more local in scope and attendance.

In practice "synodality" or "conciliarity" mean the same thing: that the Church, by its nature, exists and takes decisions by coming together to seek the will of God to decide on the questions of the day.

After Vatican II, Pope Paul VI created a worldwide Synod of Bishops to meet regularly in Rome and advise him on various subjects.

These synods, unlike Ecumenical Councils, were to be merely consultative, proposing only conclusions which the pope would take into account when formulating a response, usually in the form of a "post-synodal exhortation".

This was the type of assembly which took place in Rome this October.

Its theme was the Church and youth. Only weeks before it began, however, Pope Francis issued an apostolic constitution - effectively a change to Church law - called Episcopalis Communio.

It stipulated that "If expressly approved by the Roman Pontiff, the final document participates in the ordinary Magisterium of the Successor to Peter."

What has changed?

The document produced by the synod is no longer merely a consultative document.

From now on, the Pope can make the synod's conclusions authoritative in themselves, without the need for a subsequent exhortation, simply by adding his approbation.

What difference will this make?

The answer will depend on how it plays out in practice. At the family synods of 2014-15, which were dominated by the controversial question of whether divorced and civilly remarried Catholics should be admitted to Communion, the final synod report appeared ambiguous, and there was a tense wait for the Pope to resolve the uncertainty in his exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

Whether he did so is still being hotly debated, but imagine how much fiercer the clash at the family synod would have been if there had been a chance that its final report might be the last word.

The theme of youth and the Church may have seemed relatively anodyne in comparison, but last month's synod nevertheless generated controversy.

In the final week, the synod's organisers unveiled a draft report that devoted considerable space to the concept of synodality.

Some bishops expressed disquiet that the text gave prominence to this theme, although it was barely mentioned during the proceedings. They considered it not merely irrelevant to the topic of youth, but also an attempt at manipulation.

Yet Catholics should not be worried that attempts to introduce more conciliar processes into Church life are a danger to its divinely instituted constitution.

Holding synods at a regional level to decide on localised issues is a time-honoured tradition.

During the later Middle Ages, the papacy clashed with the Conciliarist movement, which attempted to make the popes subordinate to Councils.

This led to the Councils' authority being tightly circumscribed.

After the Reformation, there was a perceived need for centralisation around the authority of Rome.

In 1870, the First Vatican Council marked the apogee of this tendency by defining papal infallibility and universal jurisdiction. Continue reading

• Fr Mark Drew holds a doctorate in ecumenical theology from the Institut Catholique in Paris, and has also studied in Germany and Rome.
• Image: St Wilfred's Catholic Church

One key to understanding how it happened is grasping that many Catholic bishops don't hail from such places - actually, a strong majority don't - and they bring widely differing perspectives and sensitivities to the table.

Here's the tick-tock of how we got here.

The Oct. 3-28 Synod of Bishops on young people, faith and vocational discernment opened against the backdrop of a tumultuous series of new chapters in the abuse saga, including the damning Pennsylvania grand jury report; the resignation of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick; a controversy in Australia over eroding the seal of the confessional; laicizations, bishops' resignations and fresh revelations in Chile; and, of course, the infamous letter from Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò accusing Pope Francis of knowing about McCarrick and covering it up.

Two weeks before the synod opened, the Vatican announced that Francis would summon presidents of all the bishops' conferences in the world to Rome to discuss child protection Feb. 21-24.

From day one, it seemed clear the synod wouldn't duck and hide from what had happened. One of the most dramatic early moments came when Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Australia directly addressed the 36 young people who joined the bishops, apologizing for the failures of Church leadership.

Fisher confessed the "failure of too many bishops and others to respond appropriately when abuse was identified, and to do all in their power to keep you safe" as well as the "damage thus done to the Church's credibility and to your trust."

He drew sustained applause, and he was joined by several other prelates who engaged the issue both in floor speeches and in small group discussions.

It seemed there was momentum towards a strong statement from the body.

Flash forward to Tuesday, Oct. 23, when synod participants were presented with a draft version of the final document they would vote on Saturday, Oct. 27.

It contained five paragraphs on the abuse crisis, almost 700 words in all, including these key points:

• "Many voices were raised to express pain and shame for these abuses and the incapacity to give adequate responses."
• "Abuses, in all their forms, represent today the principal obstacle to the exercise of mission."
• "Behind the spreading of a culture of abuse there's a spiritual void that has to be faced with a decisive conversion of heart, mind and pastoral practices. Unfortunately, the Church has ended up in some ways assuming a style of the exercise of power that marks the history of the world, made up of violence and damages to little ones and the vulnerable."
• Referring to acts of abuse and cover-up as "these crimes, sins and omissions."
• Confirming the policy of ‘zero tolerance.'

On Wednesday and Thursday, bishops reacted to the draft on the synod floor, eventually offering around 340 proposed revisions, additions and deletions.

The section on abuse was one focus of the back-and-forth, with some prelates arguing that the draft gave too much attention to the scandals, which they styled as largely a Western phenomenon fairly remote from the concerns of other places.

On "zero tolerance," some bishops complained that it's a media buzzword meaning different things to different people, suggesting that it's often repeated but unclear in terms of its precise implications.

Further, they argued, it would be inappropriate to commit the synod to any precise policy ahead of the pope's February summit on the issue.

(In some ways that's a curious objection, given that Francis himself repeatedly has endorsed "zero tolerance," saying for instance in 2017 that the Church "irrevocably and at all levels seeks to apply the principle of ‘zero tolerance' against sexual abuse of minors.")

Although those points came from several African and Asian prelates, it wasn't just the developing world. Continue reading

• John L Allen is editor of Crux
• Image: Salt and Light TV

The question was unexpectedly left hanging in the wake of the final report of the Vatican's synod on young people, which ended Sunday (Oct. 28).

Produced in a unique collaboration between 249 bishops and some three dozen young adults, the approved summary of the proceedings nonetheless had offered a rather diluted and uninspiring welcome to LGBT Catholics.

But as happened in the previous two synods called by Pope Francis to promote a more consultative form of Catholic governance, sex - in particular homosexuality - became a flashpoint.

In fact, conservatives inside the synod hall, aided by conservative Catholic media outlets that amplified their views, waged an intense campaign to excise any mention of the acronym "LGBT" or the word "gay" from the final document.

The traditionalists, who ultimately succeeded, argued that both terms would have effectively validated homosexuality and thus could undermine Catholic teaching against same-sex relationships.

Yet their victory may prove to be more semantic than substantive. The problem for the conservatives lies in the first line of the relevant section of the final document. It reads:

"There are questions related to the body, to affectivity and to sexuality that require a deeper anthropological, theological and pastoral exploration, which should be done in the most appropriate way, whether on a global or local level.

Among these, those that stand out in particular are those relative to the difference and harmony between male and female identities and sexual inclinations."

Translation: The Catholic hierarchy is acknowledging that the church needs to update its understanding of the science of sex and gender, and that also means updating the church's theology on sexuality and its ministry to gay people.

The rest of the passage on homosexuality did seek to reassure traditionalists by reaffirming the "determinative" church view on "the difference and reciprocity between man and woman," and the passage said it was "reductive to define a person's identity solely on the basis of their sexual orientation."

But that first line, inviting "a deeper anthropological, theological and pastoral exploration," worried enough bishops that the section on sexuality passed by just two votes out of 230 cast.

"This document opens up so many minefields," the conservative website, LifeSiteNews, quoted a synod source saying.

Afterward, the opponents' worries only grew.

This section is one of the most "subtle and concerning" problems in the entire document, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, a member of the U.S. delegation and a leader of the conservative faction, told the National Catholic Register.

The Catholic Church "already has a clear, rich, and articulate Christian anthropology," Chaput told the Register.

"It's unhelpful to create doubt or ambiguity around issues of human identity, purpose, and sexuality, unless one is setting the stage to change what the church believes and teaches about all three, starting with sexuality."

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, which advocates for LGBT Catholics, rarely agrees with churchmen like Chaput. But on this point they were in sync:

"The statement acknowledges that the church still has a lot to learn about sexuality," DeBernardo, wrote in a blog post after the synod.

Certainly, the Catholic research on homosexuality could use an update. Continue reading

It showcases a Church which listens, "walks with" people, gives women a role in decision-making and ends governance by issuing edicts from on high.

The document says it is a "duty of justice" that women become involved in decision-making in the Church. It stresses the "urgency of an unavoidable change" in approach.

It also stresses the need to accompany gay Catholics, "to recognise the desire to belong and contribute to the life of the community" and "discern" how this can take place.

The Vatican says the three-part, 12-chapter, 60-page document was inspired by the episode of the disciples of Emmaus, recounted by the evangelist Luke.

Part One considers concrete aspects of young people's lives:

• the importance of schools and parishes
• the need for laity to be trained to accompany young people especially since so many priests and bishops are already overburdened
• the need to rethink the parish role - its vocational mission is often ineffective and not very dynamic, especially with catechesis
• migration, abuse, the "throwaway culture"
• art and music as pastoral resources.

This part also calls for a "firm commitment for the adoption of rigorous preventive measures that will keep abuse from being repeated."

Part Two describes young people as one of the "theological places" where the Lord makes himself present. Young people allow the church to renew herself and shake off "heaviness and slowness."

Mission is a "sure compass" for youth, the document says, "since it is the gift of self that brings an authentic and lasting happiness." The document says vocation is closely connected with mission "as every baptismal vocation is a call to holiness," which requires accompaniment and discernment.

Part Three focuses on "Walking together." It invites Conferences of Bishops' internationally to continue the process of discernment by developing pastoral solutions that consider the multiplicity of faces, sensitivities, origins and cultures.

Establishing a "Directory of youth ministry in a vocational key" on the national level is suggested. This would help diocesan and parish leaders qualify their training and action "with" and "for" young people, thus helping to overcome a certain fragmentation of the pastoral care of the Church.

This part of the document also reminds families and Christian communities of the importance of accompanying young people to discover the gift of their sexuality.

It says the bishops recognise the Church's difficulty in transmitting "the beauty of the Christian vision of sexuality" in the current cultural context.

The bishops say it is urgent for "more appropriate ways which are translated concretely into the development of renewed formative paths" to be found.

Source

• The Tablet
• Vatican News
• Image: Crux Now

They want to vote in major policy meetings.

They want Pope Francis to deliver on his promise to put more women in senior positions in the Holy See's administration. And some of them say they want to be priests.

"Knock knock! Who's there? More than half the Church!" several dozen Catholic women chanted outside the Vatican on Oct. 3, the first day of this year's synod of bishops from around the world.

The role of women in the Church has been a recurring theme at the month-long meeting, which brings together some 300 bishops, priests, nuns and lay participants.

Only about 35 are women.

The subject has come up in speeches on the floor, in small group discussions and at news conferences by participants in the gathering, officially titled "Young People, Faith and Discernment of Vocation".

Only "synod fathers", including bishops and specially appointed or elected male representatives, are allowed to vote on the final recommendations to be sent to the pope, who will take them into consideration when he writes his own document.

Other participants are non-voting observers, auditors or experts.

Some of the attendees have pointed to what they say is a contradiction in the rules of the synod, which takes place every few years on a different theme.

This year, two "brothers", lay men who are not ordained, are being allowed to vote in their capacity as superiors general of their religious orders.

But Sister Sally Marie Hodgdon, an American nun who also is not ordained, cannot vote even though she is the superior general of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery.

"I am a superior general. I am a sister.

So in theory, logically you would think I would have the right to vote," Hodgdon, who is also vice president of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), an umbrella group of Catholic nuns, told reporters.

The membership of female religious orders is about three times larger than that of male orders.

Gender in the Church

A petition demanding that women have the right to vote at synods has collected 9,000 signatures since it opened online at the start of this meeting.

It is sponsored by 10 Catholic lay groups seeking change in the Church, including greater rights for women and gays and a bigger role for the laity.

"If male religious superiors who are not ordained can vote, then women religious superiors who are also not ordained should vote. With no ontological/doctrinal barrier, the only barrier is the biological sex of the religious superior," it reads.

The cause has won some influential clerical male backers.

At a news conference on Oct. 15, superiors general of three major male religious orders - the Jesuits, the Dominicans and one branch of the Franciscans - expressed support for changes in synod rules in order to allow women to vote in the future.

Backing also came from Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich, president of the German Bishops Conference and one of the most influential Catholic leaders in Europe.

"We must face up to the often uncomfortable and impatient questions of young people about equal rights for women also in the Church," Marx said in his speech to the synod.

"The impression that the Church, when it comes to power, is ultimately a male Church must be overcome in the universal Church and also here in the Vatican. It is high time."

The Holy See, as the offices of the central administration of the 1.3 billion-member Church are known, and the State of Vatican City have a combined work force of about 4,100 people. About 700 are women.

Of the approximately 60 departments in the Holy See, about 10 must be headed by priests because they deal with governance and jurisdiction over other ordained ministers or other sensitive doctrinal matters, the Church says.

Francis has promised to put more women in senior roles in those other 50 departments. But more than five years after he was elected, there are only six women in such roles. Five are lay women and one is a nun. None of them heads a department. Continue reading

• Image: Reuters

Speaking at the current synod on youth taking place in Rome, Bo says during synod he was reflecting on the situation for young people in Myanmar.

He says the position young people in Europe are in is "quite different" from young people in Asia.

This is especially so in Myanmar, he says where "with the help of some religious congregations and the Church, we are focusing on saving young women and girls from human trafficking."

Women, he said, are trafficked "from Myanmar to Thailand, and especially from Myanmar to China. Read more

The Union of Superiors General for priests and brothers and the International Union of Superiors General for sisters and nuns are working on a proposal "to consider how, in future synods going forward, we can get more voice from the sisters."

At their annual joint meeting in November, the two umbrella groups will be moving the issue forward, Father Marco Tasca, the minister general, says.

"I think the correct path is to present this together, not 'we men' or 'we women' like children, but together.

"Consecrated life is made up of priests and laypeople, so it is only right that there also be lay superiors general at the synod."

World leader of the De La Salle Brothers, Robert Schieler, who is one of two non-ordained religious brothers serving as members of the synod on young people, says the umbrella groups are planning to ask Pope Francis to consider their proposal.

They will also ask Francis about the possibility of giving the women who take part in the synod the power to vote in the discussions.

While rules for the Synod of Bishops provide for the men's union of superiors to elect 10 voting members for the synod, there is no such provision for the women's union of superiors.

"It's a Synod of Bishops," Bruno Cadore, master of the Dominican order says.

But he points out the synod rules allow for "representatives" of religious life to participate, and they should be both men and women.

He also notes 80 percent of consecrated people in the church are women.

The seven women religious allowed to take part in the current synod on youth are serving in non-member roles: they can participate fully in the month-long discussions but they are not allowed to vote on the synod's final document.

However, Schieler says the Church's theology says brothers and sisters have analogous roles. They are each non-ordained, professed members of religious orders.

The difference is, they, as non-ordained men, may vote and women may not.

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• The Tablet
• Image: Crux Now

In an update about the current Youth Synod meeting in Rome, Dr Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Communications, says a constant theme is focusing on digital communications.

Ruffini says the issue of the pastoral care of young people in the digital world was also discussed, with the Synod considering how the Church can be active in the world of social media where young people are.

He says the Church wants to dwell in the digital world in an official, serious, structured way.

"How should the Church form missionaries for the digital world and have people in the digital world who are protagonists of freedom and responsibility?" he asks.

While the answers to the questions have not yet emerged, David Bartimej Tencer, who is the bishop of Reykjavík, Iceland, says the Church is positive about the digital world.

Using Iceland as an example, Tencer says they would be lost without the digital world: he says catechism is organised through Skype.

In this way, he can sit in front of a computer and contact and talk to young people.

He says he also encourages young people to download the Bible onto their phones.

Tencer sees these as positive developments.

Source

• Vatican News
• Independent Catholic News
• Image: National Catholic Register

Speaking to his fellow bishops at the synod on youth, Mulheria noted: "There's a lot of fury that goes on in discussing what we should do for the young people, what we should propose to them, what do young people seemingly want to say.

"We as bishops must interact more with young people, must be with young people. We must waste time with young people, hang around them and they must be at ease with us."

Muheria says he is convinced, once interaction between young people and bishops takes place, it will allow opportunities for young people to challenge bishops and present "uncomfortable questions" that otherwise they wouldn't ask.

He says he meets young people by holding "youth walks" in his diocese. In these, he walks for over 13 miles (about 21 kilometers) with them.

"They see the bishop getting tired, having muscle cramps, struggling. And in that vulnerability, they're able to say, ‘Hey bishop, we'll help you.' And you create a connection," he says.

The last time they had one of these walks, in preparation for the Synod of Bishops, three people approached him to talk about a vocation, he says.

Muheria says if there's no connection between the bishop and the young people, they won't listen.

It's as necessary to win young people's hearts today as it was in the past, he says.

Source

• Crux
• The Tablet
• Image: Times of Malta

Bishop Jean Kockerols said the vocations of Christian marriage and "celibacy for the kingdom" of God "deserve to be equally promoted by the church."

Kockerols said Christians are expected to pursue another vocation out of their baptismal vocation in a way that gives "flesh" or substance to the sacrament of baptism.

In the same way, he said, some people may hear a call to serve and be ministers of their communities.

This call comes to them whether they are married or not, he said.

"I am convinced that some young people," who, out of their baptismal vocation, answered a call to commit themselves to "the bonds of marriage would readily answer 'here I am' if the church were to call them to priestly ministry."

Focusing on a deeper understanding of the term "vocation," Kockerols said vocation begins with answering the call to life - choosing life and choosing to listen to and love the Lord.

"For the Christian, this call to life is an invitation to be and to become a disciple of Christ, 'Come and follow me.'"

He said the baptismal vocation is "the source and summit" of all other vocations and people's answer to each call prepares them for the important choices to be made in life.

The church must accompany young people so that they can become disciples of Christ "each at their own pace," he said.

If the church does not become better committed to this task, it "will continue to lose credibility."

Jesuit priest, Tommy Scholtes, spokesman for the Belgian bishops' conference, underlined the conference's support for Kockerols' views.

He also said allowing for the priestly ordination of married men could be one way to address dwindling vocations, but that it was not the only solution.

The problem with vocations "is also a question of the credibility of faith in the world today," he said.

He noted Orthodox churches and Protestant communities, which allow married men to become priests, are also seeing a lack of men wishing to pursue ministry.

Source

• Catholic News
• La Croix
• Image: Alchetron

The document will be given to Pope Francis.

Those preparing the final document include five cardinals, three bishops and four priests who come from or work in Italy, India, Ghana, Ukraine, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil and Australia.

One of the five cardinals, Aguiar Retes, says a big challenge to drafting the synod's final report will be staying faithful to the discussions of the participants and what was agreed upon in the language-specific working groups.

Another challenge will be to complete the document quickly. It will be a long document which will need to be completed in a relatively short time-frame.

This is because most working groups indicated they want a new document to be written for the conclusion of the synod, rather than a rework of the synod's working document.

In addition to the synod's concluding document, an English-language group chaired by Cardinal Blase Cupich indicated they would like a separate message directed specifically at young people. This document would be written by two Synod Fathers, with two youth auditors.

This additional document "should be inspirational and missionary in character. It should be scripturally based and start from Christ," Cupich's group says.

Most of the working groups have also said they'd like Francis to follow up the final report with a post-synodal apostolic exhortation.

The 12 chosen to write the final document are:

• Cardinal Rocha, relator general or recording secretary of the synod, who will lead the commission
• Italian Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, who will help Rocha; he is the general secretary of the synod, and one of the synod's two special secretaries
• Italian Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa
• Italian Salesian Father Rossano Sala
• Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson
• Mexican Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes
• Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias
• Italian Archbishop Bruno Forte
• Australian Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli
• Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church
• Brazilian Father Alexandre Awi Mello
• Argentine Father Eduardo Gonzalo Redondo

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• The Catholic Register
• Image: Crux Now

The synod of 267 voting bishops, priests and religious brothers, plus 72 experts and observers, is meeting at the Vatican until 28 October to try to discern two particular concerns.

One is how to proclaim the Gospel among young people. The other is how to hear what young people have to offer the Church.

Nzapalainga, who is a moderator for one of the synod's French-speaking discussion circles, says the "whole world" has gathered at the synod and is asking "What does God want to say to us today through the young?"

"We listen so that we might find together the direction. We are still seeking God's pathways. Sometimes it's difficult to understand."

Nzapalainga says one aspect of this involves finding better ways to pass the faith on to younger generations.

The other part involves encouraging young people and supporting them in sharing the faith with others.

The Central African Republic, which has suffered from civil wars for over a decade, has very different needs from those of its counterparts in the West.

"They are trying just to have peace," he said, "just to be safe."

However in a wider sense, Nzapalainga says young people are looking for the Church to help them find God in their lives, especially when they are facing difficulties.

The Church must help young people understand what is true, and what is not, by evaluating it through the lens of the Gospel, he says.

"The Word of God must be the central point of the Church's message to young people."

Source

• Herald Malaysia Online
• The Tablet
• Image:AgenSIR

Publishing his views in the Italian newspaper Il Foglio, Archbishop Charles Chaput said:

"After the Pennsylvania statewide grand jury report and abuse problems in Chile, Germany and elsewhere, the Church is in turmoil.

"In this turbulent environment, the Holy See will host a world synod of bishops ...

"Keyed to the theme of ‘young people, faith, and vocational discernment,' a more ironic and more difficult confluence of bad facts at a bad time for the meeting can hardly be imagined."

Chaput went on to say: "this does not mean the synod need fail in its work. Francis' personal appeal and the goodwill it can engender remain strong.

"This is why many young priests, like those who wrote an open letter to delegates of the impending synod earlier this month, see an opportunity in the synod's subject matter."

Chaput endorsed the young priests' statement that the synod's success depends on a profound confidence in the Word of God and the mission of the Church, despite the sins of her leaders.

"It's in the light of their faith, and the faith of other young men and women like them, that the synod's Instrumentum Laboris, or ‘working document,' needs to be reviewed and revised.

"As it stands, the text is strong in the social sciences but much less so in its call to belief, conversion and mission," Chaput said.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Washington Post

Pope Francis announced the theme of the XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops: "Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment" on 6 October 2016.

This Synod comes after almost two years of collaborative work from throughout the global Catholic Church.

Last year, as part of the preparation, the Holy Father invited young people to participate in a global survey.

New Zealand's own survey received almost 2000 responses from throughout the country.

The survey, for those aged 16 - 29 years, asked questions and opinions of them about the Church, challenges and opportunities in their lives and their thoughts on vocation. A report summarising the findings was sent to Rome.

Earlier this year, 300 young people from across the world gathered in Rome or took part via social media to participate in a six-day Pre-Synodal Meeting.

New Zealander Isabella McCafferty was invited by the New Zealand Catholic Bishops to represent New Zealand at the meeting and assist in work to produce a document that has been presented to the Synodal Fathers in their preparation for the October Synod.

Bishop Steve said: "Taking care of young people in our Church is an integral part of its vocation and mission.

"I acknowledge the tremendous preparatory work our young people in New Zealand have undertaken to prepare for this Synod and on behalf of the Catholic Bishops of New Zealand, I want them to know I will carry their voices with me on this journey."

On the completion of the Synod, Pope Francis will prepare a post-Synod document on young people in the life and mission of the Church.

Source

• Supplied: The New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference/Ko te Huinga Pihopa o te Hahi Katorika o Aotearoa
• Image: Facebook

"We know - and you have told us - that many young people do not turn to us for anything because they don't feel we have anything meaningful to say to them," he told the mainly Catholic, Lutheran and Orthodox gathering.

"They are upset by sexual and economic scandals that do not meet with clear condemnation, by our unpreparedness to really appreciate the lives and sensibilities of the young, and simply by the passive role we assign them."

Francis told the gathering that surveys commissioned by the Vatican ahead of next week's synod of bishops (which aims to develop ways to better minister to young Catholics) have been filled with similar complaints.

Calling for the Church to be converted and answer young people's call for change, Francis said to the young Estonians:

"When we adults refuse to acknowledge some evident reality, you tell us frankly: ‘Can't you see this?'

"Some of you who are a bit more forthright might even say to us: ‘Don't you see that nobody is listening to you anymore, or believes what you have to say?'"

Confirming that the church wants to respond to the criticism in an honest and transparent way, Francis added: "We ourselves need to be converted.

"We have to realise that in order to stand by your side we need to change many situations that, in the end, put you off."

Francis's public admission coincided with a new report into abuse and cover-ups in Germany.

The report, which was produced by the German bishops' conference, says about 3,677 people were abused by clergy between 1946 and 2014.

Of those abused, over half were 13 or younger and nearly a third were altar boys.

Source

• The Independent
• Crux Now
• Image:GV Wire
  

Climate change is a key issue for the pope and Ribat has been outspoken about the effects that rising ocean levels have had on his people.

The other three president delegates are Louis Sako of Baghdad, the Chaldean patriarch; Desire Tsarahazana of Toamasina, Madagascar; and Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar.

All four come from what Francis has described the "peripheries" of the world.

Each of the president-delegates also come from places that reflect a major issue outlined in the synod's "instrumentum laboris" ("working document").

• A martyred church (Iraq)
• A missionary church (Madagascar)
• A church for migrants (Myanmar)
• A church for the care of creation (Papua New Guinea)

The presidents-delegate take turns in presiding over the synod assemblies on behalf of the Pope.

Though a "president delegate" post doesn't necessarily mean much in terms of the ability to shape discussion or ram through decisions, the choices are nevertheless telling as to where Francis wants the conversation in October to go.

A president-delegate is responsible for guiding the work of the synod and assigning special tasks to certain members when necessary so that the assembly proceeds efficiently.

He also signs the documents of the assembly. When there are several presidents-delegate, they all sign the final documents of the synod.

The synod will meet at the Vatican from 3 to 28 October to discuss "young people, faith and vocational discernment."

Source

• cny.org
• catholicregister.org
• cruxnow.com
• Image: umatuna.org