July 27 that has been labelled “Formative Day on Synodality” will see participants in the Diocesan Week deliberate on the preparatory documents (Vademecum), which the Vatican issued in September 2021, as well as what Bishop Carlassare has described as “Church documents and experiences”.
Participants in the Diocesan Week will then focus on internal matters of the South Sudanese Diocese, the member of the Comboni Missionaries (MCCJ) who was consecrated Bishop on March 25 says in his letter, adding that the deliberations will be part of the “synodal journey”.
He explains in reference to the events of July 28, “After the first two days, which will be dedicated to spirituality and ongoing formation, we shall discuss and decide on how to commit ourselves to this synodal journey towards the Diocesan Assembly that is scheduled to be in February 2023,”
Thus, July 28 has been reserved for the “road map toward the Diocesan Assembly”, which is to bring together, in February 2023, representatives from the 16 Parishes of the Diocese, and the Diocesan coordination departments and offices.
The Italian-born Bishop who has ministered in South Sudan since 2005 encourages “a large participation of all people concerned, especially parish priests, and at least a representative of all the religious communities.”
On July 29, statutes of the Presbyteral Council will be discussed and approved, an activity that is to be followed by the election and blessing of the members to the Council, Bishop Carlassare says in his June 28 letter addressed to “all secular Clergy and members of Religious Institutes” ministering in Rumbek Diocese.
He explains, “On the last day, we shall constitute the Presbyteral Council which is an important consultative body of the diocese.”
In October 2021, Pope Francis formally launched the two-year global consultation process leading to the 2023 Synod on Synodality with a call to “look others in the eye and listen to what they have to say.”
Earlier, in May 2021, the Vatican had announced that the Synod on Synodality would open with a Diocesan phase lasting from October 2021 to April 2022. A continental phase, the second, is to take place from September 2022 to March 2023.
The third, which is the universal phase, would begin with the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated to the theme, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission” at the Vatican in October 2023.
