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Debate on women’s participation in the Catholic Church — including the idea of whether women could one day be deacons — is not on the agenda for this month’s assembly of the Synod on Synodality, but synodal conversations on the topic continue, some at the explicit invitation of Pope Francis.
During the penitential celebration on the eve of the Synod on Synodality, confessions and testimonies were shared by bishops, religious, and laypeople.
As the Church kicks off the second session of the Synod on Synodality this week, it’s helpful to understand some key terms and concepts.
Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo has lauded organizers of the just ended weekly synodal conversations that brought together African theologians and experts, including Clergy women and men Religious, and Laity, noting that the 14 weeks of engagement on “the future of the Church in Africa” amplified the voice of the continent in key global discussions.
Cardinal Mario Grech opened a two-day retreat on Monday for participants of the second session of the Synod on Synodality.
The Lebanon-Israel situation could diminish the presence of Eastern Catholic patriarchs from Lebanon at the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality, which begins Oct. 2.
Father Timothy Radcliffe and Father James Martin weigh in on same-sex attraction before the synod.
The second Vatican assembly for the global Synod on Synodality will kick off in October, bringing together clerics and laity alike for a month of discussions.
The 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will begin Oct. 2–27 in Rome, the second part of the Synod on Synodality.
Organizers of the weekly synodal palavers that ended on September 6 have announced a virtual “prayer session” for Africa’s delegates to the second session of the Synod on Synodality scheduled to start on October 2 and end on October 29 in Rome.
Africa’s experience of “Church as a family of God” makes Synodality, which invites the people of God to journey together in communion, participation and mission, “a new word for an old idea”, John Cardinal Onaiyekan of Nigeria has said.
The Synod on Synodality, which started off as a pastoral issue, bringing on board every baptized member of the Church, has now become a “theoretical” topic for intellectuals, the Archbishop of Cameroon’s Catholic Archdiocese of Bamenda has observed.
Around the world, bishops together with the Catholic faithful of their dioceses are gearing up for the second session of the 2021-2024 Synod on Synodality to take place Oct.2-27 in Vatican City.
Theologians leading the ongoing weekly synodal conversations have urged Catholics in Africa to uphold the sacredness of marriage, and to say no to any ideologies that may distort the image of the family institution.
The prelate told La Croix that the Church in Africa is one that is “alive and full of faith” and that he came to Benin to “learn.”
To foster the good relations between Apostolic Nunciatures and the Church in Africa, representatives of the Holy Father on the continent must strive to acknowledge the diversity of the Church in Africa “as a gift” to the global Catholicism, an official at the Pan-African Catholic Theology and Pastoral Network (PACTPAN) has said.
The Holy See is increasingly diversifying the membership of its diplomatic service, a Vatican-based Nigerian Catholic Archbishop, who previously served as an Apostolic Nuncio has said.
Posted Friday, the poll asked: “Do you believe that synodality as a path of conversion and reform can enhance the mission and participation of all the baptized?”
Acknowledging “a common dignity” as children of God, the fostering of interpersonal encounters and dialogue, and the practice of listening are among the qualities of the New Instrumentum Laboris (working tool) the guiding document for the final session of the multi-year Synod on Synodality scheduled for 2-29 October 2024 in Rome, a Kenyan members of the Society of Jesus (SJ/Jesuits) has said.
Members of the Episcopal Conference of the Indian Ocean (CEDOI) have taken a commitment to foster their collegiality, journeying together in the spirit of the ongoing Synod on Synodality.