By Communications Department - Archdiocese of Miami
VATICAN CITY | In The Pope Video for October 2022, Pope Francis is entrusting to the entire Catholic Church to pray "for a Church open to everyone."
The Holy Father highlights the need for a Church that is close to the people and open, and he asks that we pray “that the Church, ever faithful to the Gospel and courageous in preaching it, may live in an increasing atmosphere of synodality and be a community of solidarity, fraternity, and welcome.”
Released through the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, the intention arrives at a key moment of the synodal process which began in in 2021 and will conclude in 2023. Now that the initial stage has concluded, during which the particular Churches, episcopal conferences, and other ecclesial realities reflected on the Preparatory Document sent by Rome, the continental stage is being inaugurated. In this stage, the emphasis falls on listening, discernment, and dialogue on a regional level, based on the contributions received from the particular Churches.
With the support of the General Secretary of the Synod, this edition of The Pope Video points out that for the Church, the Synod “isn’t a poll”: “It’s not about gathering opinions, nor holding a parliament,” but about “listening to each other in our diversity” and above all “listening to the protagonist, the Holy Spirit.”
“Doing a synod” is about learning to listen, to talk with others – including those who are outside the Church, at the margin – to seek “closeness, which is God’s style.”
For Pope Francis, walking together in the same direction “is what God expects of the Church of the third millennium: that it regain its awareness of being a people on the road and of having to travel together.”
This is the spirit with which the 2021-2023 Synod “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission” began a year ago, and this month begins its next stage. It is a constant process of listening and discernment throughout the entire world.
Now, in the continental stage, based on the work of listening carried out by the particular Churches and on the discernment of the bishops in the episcopal conferences, the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops is drafting a Document of Discernment of the People of God after a careful reflection on the fruits of the previous stage.
