Vatican, 03 February, 2024 / 3:30 pm (ACI Africa).
The Vatican announced on Saturday that Synod on Synodality organizers are inviting 300 parish priests to come to Rome for a meeting of “listening, prayer, and discernment” that will help shape the next Synod assembly discussions.
The international meeting of priests will take place from April 28 to May 2 with the goal of “listening to and valuing the experience of parish priests”and providing them with “an opportunity to experience the dynamism of synodal work at a universal level.”
The General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops said that the meeting is being organized in response to the first Synod assembly’s Synthesis Report, which identified a need to "develop ways for a more active involvement of deacons, priests and bishops in the synodal process during the coming year.”
The participating priests were selected by their local bishops’ conference in the Latin Rite, as well as by the leadership of each Eastern Catholic church. The number of priests selected from each region was commensurate with the number of members in the bishops’ conference.
The bishops were asked to give preference to parish priests with “significant experience in the perspective of a synodal Church,” while also selecting priests from “a variety of pastoral contexts.”
