It will be coordinated by the General Secretariat with the participation of the relevant departments. The second session will be held from October 2 to 27 and is preceded by two days of retreat (September 30 – October 1).
Vatican News
The General Secretariat of the Synod announces that Pope Francis has set the dates for the second session of the Sixteenth Ordinary General Assembly, which will be held from Wednesday, October 2, to Sunday, October 27, 2024, to continue the work of the Synod on the Conciliarity on the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission.” This second session, as already happened in October 2023, will be preceded by two days of spiritual retreat, from September 30 to October 1 (with participants arriving on September 29).
In conjunction with the statement, an infographic from the Pope was also published, which outlines the formation of study groups to delve deeper into some of the topics raised in the previous session. It will be formed between the relevant departments of the Roman Curia and the General Secretariat of the Council, which will coordinate between them.
In the chart dedicated to the cooperation between the Choral Chambers and the Secretariat of the Congregation, Francis mentions that in the Constitution of the Roman Curia Pray the good news We read that “the life of communion gives the Church the face of collegiality.” The mission of the General Secretariat of the Synod, which is directly dependent on the Supreme Pontiff and which “supports and accompanies the synodal process established from time to time,” is reaffirmed, favoring in the spirit of synod the relations of bishops and particular churches among themselves and in communion with the Bishop of Rome.
The therapist concludes by saying that “the departments of the Roman Curia cooperate, in accordance with their special competences, with the activity of the General Secretariat of the Synod, and form study groups that begin, in a synodal manner, to deepen some of the themes that arose” in the first session of the Synod of Bishops. “These study groups must be formed by mutual agreement between the relevant departments of the Roman Curia and the General Secretariat of the Congregation, which is entrusted with coordination.”
In the “Towards October 2024” document of the Synod Secretariat, published on 11 December 2023, it was highlighted how the upcoming Assembly will focus on how the Synod should be lived at all levels of the Church. Now, the Pope's decision makes it clear that some of the most important topics that have emerged from the listening of the Churches require a significant time of theological, ecclesiastical and pastoral depth, according to a synodal method that includes experts from all continents and circles of the Roman Curia. consistent with their skills. At the moment, what study groups will be formed and what topics are determined. The summary report that was voted on at the end of last October’s session referred to some of these matters, such as modernizing some legal rules, the formation of ordained ministers, relations between bishops and religious orders, and theological and pastoral research on the diaconate.
The contributions of the study groups, as reflected in the Secretariat document published in December and in the current papal outline, will be useful tools for the thinking of the whole Church, but will not directly constitute material for discussion in the Church. The next session of the Synod, which will focus on conciliarity itself, which is an expression of communion in church life. Finally, it is interesting to note the role assigned to the General Secretariat of the Synod, led by Cardinal Mario Grech, who will coordinate the work with the Synods. A living being that is not part of the Roman Curia, but is also directly subordinate to the Pope.
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