Pope Francis Opens Synod on Synodality Assembly With Warning Against Personal "agendas"

Building off of the discussions in the October 2023 synod assembly, the 368 voting delegates in this year’s session are expected to produce a final report to advise Pope Francis on how to enhance the “communion, participation, and mission” of the Catholic Church.

With some of the most controversial issues off of the agenda for the synod assembly, discussions are expected to focus on concrete proposals for instituting a listening and accompaniment ministry, greater lay involvement in parish economics and finances, and more powerful parish councils and bishops’ conferences.

The synod’s opening Mass began at 9:30 a.m. under partly cloudy skies with a procession that included 76 cardinals, 320 bishops, hundreds of priests, and lay synod delegates. The pope presided over the Mass on the feast of the Guardian Angels, emphasizing the importance of listening and harmony in his homily.

“Ours is not a parliamentary assembly but rather a place of listening in communion,” Francis said.

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“It is not about majorities and minorities … What is important, what is fundamental, is harmony, the harmony that only the Holy Spirit can achieve,” he added. “The Holy Spirit is the master of harmony and is capable of creating one voice among so many different voices.”

The assembly format mirrors that of the previous year, with daily prayers, theological reflections, and small-group discussions organized by language. However some of the more controversial subjects discussed at last year’s assembly, including women deacons and “synodal” formation for future priests, have been delegated to the competency of 15 study groups formed starting late last year. 

The synod assembly is the culmination of a multiyear global process that has involved diocesan, national, and continental stages. The discussions this month are anticipated to cover a range of proposals, from expanding the role of women in diocesan leadership to whether bishops’ conferences should be recognized as “ecclesial subjects endowed with doctrinal authority.”

In preparation for the assembly, participants engaged in a two-day retreat that concluded with a penitential vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica where individuals shared experiences of trauma related to sexual abuse, war, and indifference to migrants. 

In his homily, Pope Francis used the word “listen” or “listening” nearly a dozen times. The pope encouraged delegates to “receive all the contributions collected during these three years with respect and attention, in prayer and in the light of the word of God.”

“With the help of the Holy Spirit, we must listen to and understand these voices — that is, the ideas, the expectations, the proposals — so as to discern together the voice of God speaking to the Church,” Francis said.

In a surprise announcement at the end of his homily, Pope Francis revealed that he will personally go to Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major on Sunday to pray the rosary for peace on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.

Pope Francis also called for a global day of prayer and fasting on Oct. 7 amid the escalating violence in the Holy Land.

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“Brothers and sisters, let us resume this ecclesial journey with an eye to the world, for the Christian community is always at the service of humanity, to proclaim the joy of the Gospel to all,” he said. “We need it, especially in this dramatic hour of our history, as the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to ravage entire peoples and nations.”

Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.