The Synod of Bishops dedicated to the Word of God in the life and Mission of the Church

Monday, 17 November 2008

The recent Synod The recent Synod -held in Rome between the 6th and 25th of October- was the 12th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, and was dedicated to the "Word of God in the life and Mission of the Church".The Synod of Bishops is an assembly of the representatives of the Catholic Bishops with the Pontiff, for the exchange of information, to come out with suitable recommendations for finding pastoral solutions, helping the Universal Church. Interventions of the Bishops On the first days of the Synod, the Bishops read their interventions to the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Major themes, that emerged, were how to affirm the historical contributions while preserving the reading of the Bible as Scripture through the faith context. Another recurring theme was a perceived weakness in homilies which some Bishops blamed for conversions to Evangelical Protestantism.  Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch presides a mass at the SynodOn Saturday afternoon, October 11th 2008. Pope Benedict XVI presided the Vespers prayer, with the participation of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, making a notable event that it’s the first time a non-Catholic leads a liturgical mass in a Synod. Thus the Synod of Bishops significantly strengthens the ecumenical relations, among all rituals. The Pope addressed a thankful word to Patriarch Bartholomew I for his presence. On the other hand, his beatitude recalled the need of faithful to share the path of justice, in the struggle against poverty, and in respect of the environment.  Propositions The Synod's Realtor General, Cardinal Marc Oullet, compiled the list of propositions that were reduced from 254 to 53 propositions. Bishop Oullet remarked that all these propositions came out by the action of the Holy Spirit.The propositions were summarized into four categories: the link between the Word of God and the Eucharist; God's Word and the poor; pastoral issues in Africa and Asia; reconciling biblical studies with the spiritual sense of Scripture.The Holy Father also made public discourses about how one has to read integrally the Holy Scripture.  Results of the Synod The Synod of Bishops released its final public message on October 24th 2008 with the launch of ecclesial renewal.Msgr. Nicola Eterovic, the General Secretary of the Synod, pointed out to the ecumenical dimension of the Synod. "The role of the Word of God is addressed to us in order to be diffused throughout the whole world, and so by announcing the Word of God we meet with our Christian brothers; ecumenical dialogue is very important, but also with those belonging to other non-Christian religions." he said.He added: "We hope that from this Synod, with the grace of the Holy Spirit and truly, the presence of the Holy Spirit has been perceived in our work will arise a renewal of the Church from hearing the Word of God. God speaks a word of life to us today, a word of hope and of charity."The synod fathers acclaimed the message rather than to vote on. All the prominent themes of the past three weeks were represented in it."The one who has listened to the Bible has to go out and live it, personifying especially the love which is the fundamental element", Msgr Eterovic said.The final message affirms that a historical understanding of the Scriptures must weave itself indissolubly with the spiritual and theological tradition. At the same time, the Bishops criticize fundamentalists for ignoring the literary forms and historical context of the Bible that give it its human character.The Synod of the Word closed on October 25th 2008 where the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI presided a Eucharistic celebration at the Vatican Basilica.The Pope affirmed in his homily that: "It is necessary to understand the necessity of rendering the word that is heard into deeds of love, because it is the only way that the preaching of the gospel becomes credible, notwithstanding the human frailty that characterizes people".At the end, his Holiness announced that he would pay a visit to Cameroon in March 2009, to deliver the Bishops of Africa the results of the Synod.