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RECOWACERAO NEWS AGENCY, RECONA brings to your doorstep a Live Updates on Synod on Synodality: Delegates Debate the Catholic Church’s Future. The Catholic Church’s Synod on Synodality has entered its final phase. Bishops, lay experts, and even non-Catholic observers from around the world have gathered in Rome this October for a monthlong assembly that could reshape the Church, its governance, and its teaching. Pope Francis, opening the session, urged participants to listen to the Holy Spirit rather than pursue personal agendas.

Here’s what you should know

The October 2024 session’s focus is on “How to Be a Missionary Synodal Church” as the synod’s 368 voting members consider proposals related to the roles of women, decentralizing Church teaching authority, and enhancing the laity’s input in decision-making.

HERE’S WHAT IS NEW AT THE SYNOD ON SYNODALITY PART 2

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

Synod rules out women deacons

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, shuts down speculation regarding further theological study into the possibility of women being ordained as deacons on Oct 3. Father Giacomo Costa, special secretary of the synod, says this month’s discussions held in the Vatican should serve as “laboratories of synodal life,” Kristina Millare reports.

It is on record that Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández shut down speculation regarding the possibility of women being ordained as deacons before the second day of Synod on Synodality meetings got underway.

SO FAR SO GOOD

Synod on Synodality rules out women deacons

The Synod on Synodality commenced its second day on Thursday in which 356 participants convened at the Vatican.

October 5: A call for peace, and an announcement of dialogue

A Lebanese bishop makes an impassioned plea for peace and forgiveness at the Synod on Synodality’s daily press briefing on Saturday, as the assembly’s first week drew to a close.

Bishop Mounir Khairallah of Batroun shares his personal experience of violence and forgiveness, recounting how his parents were murdered when he was just five years old.

Meanwhile, a dialogue with study groups is announced for Oct. 18, after synod delegates vote for more interaction with the groups established by Pope Francis.

TBishop Mounir Khairallah of Batroun shared his personal experience of violence and forgiveness, recounting how his parents were murdered when he was just five years old.

October 4: What’s behind the viral photo of Pope Francis venerating a chair?

Pope Francis sits before the historic relic of St. Peter’s chair in the Ottoboni sacristy of St. Peter’s Basilica after celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Square ahead of the second session of the Synod on Synodality. What is behind this viral image? Madalaine Elhabbal explains. Going further, CNA explains what was behind the viral photo of Pope Francis sitting before an ancient wooden chair during the first day of the Synod on Synodality earlier this week.

October 4: Participants put spotlight on world’s poor

Closing the first week of meetings, participants from different continents put a spotlight on the plight of the world’s poor and vulnerable on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, reports Kristina Millare.

The first week at the Synod on Synodality — revolution or much ado about nothing?

Vaticanist Andrea Gagliarducci analyzes the first days of the gathering in Rome. He writes: “It seems clear that while the delegates may discuss many things over the next three weeks, nothing will be decided. There will be no doctrinal changes. No diminution of the role of the bishop. No rush to resolve the question of opening the diaconate to women.”

Oct. 3: Many voices to be heard

Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the synod, says at a press conference that “every believer, man or woman, and every group, association, movement, or community will be able to participate with their own contribution” via the synod’s 10 study groups.

Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, tells journalists the work of participants in the second session of the Synod on Synodality is to find the “cohesive voice” that expresses the life of the Church.

October 3: Solving sexuality questions with ‘contextual fidelity’?

A study group appointed by Pope Francis to explore a synodal approach to the Church’s most debated issues — including sexual morality and life matters — proposes “contextual fidelity” and a “new paradigm” that downplays long-standing Church teaching, Jonathan Liedl notes.

October 2: Pope Francis calls for new ways for bishops to be ‘synodal’

At the first meeting of the full assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Wednesday, Pope Francis says a bishop’s ministry should include cooperation with laypeople and that the synod will need to identify “differing forms” of the exercise of this ministry.

At the first meeting of the Synod on Synodality on Wednesday, Pope Francis said a bishop’s ministry should include cooperation with laypeople.

At synod, Pope says Church needs new ways for bishops to be ‘synodal’. “Never can a bishop, or any other Christian, think of himself ‘without others,’” Pope Francis said Wednesday at the first meeting of the 2024 Synod on Synodality.

October 2: Pope Francis opens synod, warns against personal ‘agendas’

Pope Francis opens the second and final session of the Synod on Synodality, which is meant to deepen the missionary perspective of the Church, explains EWTN Vatican Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser.

“Let us be careful not to see our contributions as points to defend at all costs or agendas to be imposed,” the pope says at the synod’s opening Mass on October 2, Courtney Mares reports. The pontiff warns: “Ours is not a parliamentary assembly but rather a place of listening in communion.”

Pope Francis opened the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Wednesday with a Mass concelebrated by over 400 priests, bishops, and cardinals in St. Peter’s Square.

October 2: Looming questions about role of German ‘synodality’

“More candor about the motivations of the German Synodal Path and its vision of the Catholic future would be helpful in determining what, if anything, it has to offer the world Church at Synod 2024,” comments George Weigel in the National Catholic Register.

October 1: Penitential liturgy is held in St. Peter’s Basilica; more than 500 people attend

On the eve of the second session of the Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis says the Catholic Church must first acknowledge its sins and ask for forgiveness before it can be credible in carrying out the mission Jesus Christ entrusted to his Church, Kristina Millare reports. Pope Francis cried out loud and clear, “We must acknowledge our sins to become a missionary Church, We must acknowledge our sins to become missionary Church”.

During the penitential celebration on the eve of the Synod on Synodality, confessions and testimonies were shared by bishops, religious, and laypeople.

9 years ago, this papal speech set the ‘synodality’ machine in motion

Since Pope Francis’ 2015 speech, synodality has grown from a theological concept into a guiding principle of Church governance. Analysis from Jonathan Liedl in the National Catholic Register.

In the aftermath of Francis’s programmatic 2015 speech, a set of theologians “flooded the zone” with systematized accounts of synodality.

Unlike “synodality,” their ideas weren’t new. And many of them are the experts guiding the Synod on Synodality today. It is emphasized that 9 Years Ago, This Papal Speech Set the ‘Synodality’ Machine in Motion. ANALYSIS has it that Since Pope Francis’ 2015 speech, synodality has grown from a theological concept into a guiding principle of Church governance.

Rev. Fr. George Nwachukwu
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