His Holiness Pope Francis approves convocation of post-synodal Ecclesial Assembly in 2028

This news is shared from the website of Vatican News.

Bishops meeting in the Paul VI at the Synod on sinodality in 2024  ( foto Agência Ecclesia)

His Holiness Pope Francis officially initiates a new phase in the Church’s synodal journey by approving an accompaniment process that will culminate in an Ecclesial Assembly in 2028.

By Isabella Piro

Cardinal Mario Grech, the Secretary General of the Synod’s General Secretariat, has announced the convocation of a special post-synodal Ecclesial Assembly to be held in the Vatican in October 2028 as the culmination of a three-year  process accompanying  the implementation of the outcomes of the Synod.

In a letter addressed to all Bishops and Eparchs, along with the Patriarchs and Major Archbishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Cardinal Grech explained that the assembly will not be a new Synod.

The process refers to the implementation phase of the three-year Synod  on the theme: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission,” which conluded in October 2024.

As the Pope immediately clarified at its conclusion, the Final Document of the 16th General Assembly “is part of the ordinary Magisterium of the Successor of Peter” and, as such, must be received. This, explained Cardinal Grech, means that “local Churches and groups of Churches” must commit to “implementing” the document’s guidelines through processes of “discernment and decision-making”.

Making exchanges within the Church concrete

Cardinal Grech specified that the implementation phase should not be seen as “a simple application of directives from above” but rather as “a reception process” of the Final Document in a manner “appropriate to local cultures and community needs.” The goal remains “to make exchanges and dialogue between Churches and within the Church concrete.”

Involving priests, deacons, consecrated persons, and laypeople

A crucial aspect of this implementation process is the renewed involvement of all those who contributed to the Synod so that “listening to all the Churches” and the discernment of their pastors can bear fruit.

Fundamental to this effort will be “synodal teams composed of priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, and laypeople, accompanied by their bishop.” The Secretary General therefore recommends that these teams be “valued” and, if necessary, “renewed, reactivated, and appropriately integrated.”…

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