Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for his Angelus reflection on Oct. 6, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2024 / 10:43 am (CNA).

“Be open to the gift of life,” Pope Francis urged married couples in his Sunday Angelus address in which the pope described a recent encounter with a father of eight children as “a great consolation.”

Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 6, Pope Francis asked couples to reflect on whether their married life is fully open to the gift of children.

“For spouses, it’s essential to be open to the gift of life, to the gift of children. They are the most beautiful fruit of love, the greatest blessing from God, a source of joy and hope for every home and all of society. Have children!” Pope Francis said.

“Dear brothers and sisters, love is demanding, yes, but it is beautiful, and the more we allow ourselves to be involved by it, the more we discover true happiness in it,” he added.

The pope recounted how a member of the Vatican’s Gendarmerie Corps brought his eight children to a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica that the pope presided over on Saturday. Pope Francis described seeing the family as “a great consolation.” 

“It was beautiful to see them,” he said. “Please, be open to life, to what God may send you.”

Francis encouraged married Catholics to “ask themselves: How is my love? Is it faithful? Is it generous? Is it creative?” 

“How are our families?” Pope Francis added. “Are they open to life, to the gift of children?”

The Catholic Church teaches that all forms of artificial birth control are illicit and forbidden to married couples. This teaching was formalized in 1968 by St. Paul VI, who in his encyclical Humanae Vitae declared that “any action … specifically intended to prevent procreation” was “absolutely excluded” as a lawful means of regulating the number of children in a Catholic marriage.

However, recent data from the federally administered National Survey of Family Growth shows large majorities of Catholics in the United States report using at least one form of artificial contraception — with over 90% having used condoms and more than 60% having used the hormonal birth control pill. 

Pope Francis has expressed concern in recent years over Europe’s “demographic winter” in which birth rates in countries such as Italy have reached historic lows.

In his Angelus address, the pope offered a reflection on Sunday’s Gospel from the Gospel of Mark in which the Pharisees asked Jesus about whether the law permits divorce.

Pope Francis noted that the Lord’s reply to the Pharisees reminded them of “the demands of love.”

“He reminds them that woman and man were willed by the Creator as equal in dignity and complementary in diversity,” the pope said.

Francis emphasized that the mutual gift of married love is “destined to last not ‘as long as everything goes well’ but forever, accepting each other and living united as ‘one flesh.’”

“Of course, this is not easy,” the pope added. “This requires fidelity, even in difficulties, it requires respect, honesty, simplicity. It requires being open to confrontation … when it is necessary, but also to be always ready to forgive and to be reconciled to the other.”

At the end of his Gospel reflection, Pope Francis asked the Virgin Mary to intercede for Christian spouses, noting the upcoming feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

An appeal for peace in the Holy Land

Pope Francis noted that he will soon go to the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray the rosary for peace on the vigil of the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.

“Tomorrow marks one year since the terror attack on the population in Israel, to whom I once again express my closeness. Let us not forget that there are still many hostages in Gaza. I ask for them to be released immediately,” Pope Francis said.

“Since that day, the Middle East has been plunged into a condition marked by increasing suffering, with destructive military actions continuing to strike the Palestinian people. The people are suffering very much in Gaza and in other territories. Most of them are innocent civilians, all of them are people who must receive all necessary humanitarian aid. I call for an immediate cease-fire on all fronts, including Lebanon. Let us pray for the Lebanese, especially for those who live in the south, who are forced to leave their villages,” he added.

Appealing to the international community to stop “the spiral of revenge” and to prevent attacks “like the one recently carried out by Iran,” Pope Francis underlined the right of all nationals to exist in peace and security.

“In this situation, prayer is more necessary than ever,” Francis said, reiterating his invitation for a global day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world on Oct. 7.

“Let us unite with the power of good against the diabolical plots of war,” the pope said.

Pilgrims gather in St. Peter's Square for Pope Francis' Angelus reflection on Oct. 6, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media21 new cardinals announced

At the end of his Angelus address, Pope Francis surprised the crowd by announcing that he plans to create 21 new cardinals, including the archbishops of Tehran, Tokyo, and Toronto, in a consistory on Dec. 8. 

The pope noted that the cardinals-elect reflect “the universality of the Church that continues to announce God’s merciful love to all people.”

“Let us pray for the new cardinals, that in confirming their commitment to Christ, the merciful and faithful high priest, they may assist me in my ministry as the bishop of Rome for the good of the holy people of God.”

Pope Francis creates new cardinals at a consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 5, 2019. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2024 / 07:41 am (CNA).

Pope Francis announced on Sunday that he will create 21 new cardinals, including the archbishops of Tehran, Tokyo, and Toronto, at a consistory on Dec. 8

The 87-year-old pope made the announcement from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square after reciting the Angelus prayer on Oct. 6.

This is the full list:

• Archbishop Frank Leo, metropolitan archbishop of Toronto (Canada)

• Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi, S.V.D., metropolitan archbishop of Tokyo (Japan)

• Archbishop Dominique Joseph Mathieu, O.F.M. Conv., archbishop of Tehran-Ispahan (Belgian missionary bishop in Iran)

• Bishop Mykola Bycok, C.Ss.R., Eparch of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne of the Ukrainians (Ukrainian bishop in Australia)

• Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., theologian (United Kingdom)

• Father Fabio Baggio, C.S., undersecretary for the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development (Italy)

• Monsignor George Jacob Koovakad, official of the Secretariat of State and organizer of papal trips (India)

• Bishop Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the diocese of Rome (Italy)

• Archbishop Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio, metropolitan archbishop of Lima (Peru)

• Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur, O.F.M., bishop of Bogor (Indonesia)

• Archbishop Vicente Bokalic Iglic, archbishop of Santiago del Estero (Argentina)

• Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, O.F.M., metropolitan archbishop of Guayaquil (Ecuador)

• Archbishop Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib, metropolitan archbishop of Santiago de Chile (Chile)

• Bishop Pablo Virgilio Siongco David, bishop of Kalookan (Philippines)

• Archbishop Laszlo Nemet, S.V.D., metropolitan archbishop of Belgrade (Serbia)

• Archbishop Jaime Spengler, O.F.M., metropolitan archbishop of Porto Alegre (Brazil)

• Archbishop Ignace Bessi Dogbo, metropolitan archbishop of Abidjian (Ivory Coast)

• Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco, O.P., metropolitan archbishop of Algiers (Algeria)

• Archbishop Roberto Repole, metropolitan archbishop of Turin (Italy)

• Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas, coadjutor archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Lithuania)

One of the cardinals-elect is already over 80:

• Archbishop Angelo Acerbi, apostolic nuncio emeritus (Italy)

Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has created 142 cardinals from 70 countries at nine consistories.

The last consistory to create new cardinals took place on Sept. 30, 2023. The new cardinals included Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem; Cardinal Stephen Chow of Hong Kong; and Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. 

Fifteen members of the College of Cardinals have turned 80 since the last consistory, thus losing their chance to participate in a future papal election. 

After the December consistory, there will be 141 cardinal electors (barring the unexpected death of any of the cardinals) — 111 (79%) of whom have been appointed by Pope Francis.

The Maronite Catholic Eparch of Batroun, Bishop Mounir Khairallah, attends the press conference on Oct. 5, 2024 at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez

CNA Newsroom, Oct 5, 2024 / 10:35 am (CNA).

A Lebanese bishop made 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 shared his personal experience of violence and forgiveness, recounting how his parents were murdered when he was just five years old.

“A Lebanese Maronite nun came to our house, took us four children to her monastery, and in church invited us to kneel and pray,” Bishop Khairallah recalled. “She said, ‘Let us pray not so much for your parents, but rather for those who killed them, and seek to forgive.’”

The prelate emphasized that despite ongoing conflicts, the Lebanese people consistently reject hatred and vengeance. “We Lebanese have always condemned hatred, vengeance, violence. We want to build peace. We are capable of doing it,” he said.

Press briefing for the XVI General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican, Oct. 5, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Bishop Khairallah insisted that the majority of people desire peace. He called for an end to cycles of retaliation: “Enough with this vengeance, with this hatred, with this war. Enough. Let us build peace at least for the children, for future generations who have the right to live in peace.”

The bishop’s plea resonated with the broader sentiments expressed during the synod. Participants on Saturday issued “an urgent appeal for peace in the name of the synod,” coupled with a call for “all religions to condemn fundamentalism with one voice.”

Interaction with study groups

Earlier in the press briefing, Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, provided an update on the synod’s proceedings.

Ruffini reported that Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the synod, had proposed interaction between synod members and the study groups established by Pope Francis.

“This proposal was put to a vote and approved by a show of hands,” Ruffini said. “On Friday, Oct. 18, the coordinators and other members of the groups will meet with assembly members who wish to speak with them on the subject of their group.”

Ruffini also noted that the language groups had completed their work on the first module of the Instrumentum Laboris, submitting documents containing propositions they consider fundamental for drafting the final document.

The Synod on Synodality will start its second week of discussions on Monday, Oct. 7, the day Pope Francis has called for a day of prayer and fasting for peace to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel as violence continues to escalate throughout the region.

Pope Francis views a historic relic of the chair of St. Peter on Oct. 2, 2024. / Credit: Holy See Press Office

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 4, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

On Wednesday, Oct. 2, the Holy Father had the opportunity to view 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. The photo of him sitting before the chair went viral.

Francis is the first pope since 1974 to have viewed the relic believed to have belonged to St. Peter the Apostle. 

Ordinarily, the historic wooden chair is encased inside the large chair monument crafted by the 17th-century sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, which is installed directly above the altar in the apse of the Vatican basilica. 

However, the Fabric of Saint Peter, a Vatican institution entrusted with the restoration and maintenance of the basilica, recently removed the chair from the monument amid restoration work on Bernini’s Baldacchino, the canopy that hangs over the Altar of the Cathedra, according to Vatican News. 

What’s the story behind the ‘chair relic?’

Ancient tradition maintains that St. Peter himself sat on the chair during sermons to the early Christians in Rome.

However, according to Papal Artifacts, archeologists determined that only the acacia wood skeleton of the chair in its current form dates back to this time period. The rest of the chair is composed of oak, bound to the original skeleton by strips of iron, and is believed to be a reconstruction made during the Byzantine period. The ivory plaques featured in the bottom portion of the throne are also attributed to this time. They depict sketches of Hercules and various constellations.

Pope Alexander VII commissioned Bernini to construct the monument where the chair is ordinarily encased during his pontificate in the 17th century. Bernini completed the monument between 1647 and 1653, but it was not installed above the altar in St. Peter’s Basilica until 1666.

The bronze-gilded throne is set against a backdrop of golden clouds, directly above the main altar — which is composed of black and white marble from Aquitaine and red jasper from Sicily.

Above the chair, there is a pair of angels holding the tiara and keys symbolizing papal authority, while four large statues of St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Athanasius, and St. John Chrysostom surround the monument. On the chair itself, there are three gold bas-reliefs representing the Gospel episodes of the consignment of the keys (Matthew 16:19), “feed my sheep” (John 21:17), and the washing of the feet (John 13:1-17).

What does the Chair of St. Peter symbolize?

Every year on Feb. 22, the Church celebrates the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, which is also a symbolic title for the papacy itself. 

In 2006, during a speech delivered during his general audience on the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Pope Benedict XVI described the spiritual significance of this symbol as “a privileged sign of the love of God, the eternal Good Shepherd, who wanted to gather his whole Church and lead her on the path of salvation.” 

The Holy Father’s veneration of the chair — a symbol of the Church’s unity under the instruction of Christ — takes place amid the commencement of the second session of the Synod on Synodality.

Closing the first week of meetings, Synod on Synodality participants from different continents put a spotlight on the plight of the world’s poor and vulnerable at a press briefing held in the Vatican on Oct. 4, 2024, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi.  / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 4, 2024 / 17:35 pm (CNA).

Closing the first week of meetings, Synod on Synodality participants from different continents put a spotlight on the plight of the world’s poor and vulnerable at a press briefing held in the Vatican on the Oct. 4 feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. 

Bishop Anthony Randazzo of Broken Bay, Australia, told journalists on Friday that people often forgotten by the wider Church are the poor and vulnerable, including those who are economically disadvantaged, migrants, displaced communities, and women who are excluded or “pushed to the margins into places of poverty and violence.”

In Oceania, Randazzo said several communities living in Pacific Ocean countries that are rich in natural resources are some of “the most vulnerable on the planet” because of exploitation by wealthy companies and nations.

He stated that churches and communities in wealthier countries overly concerned with “niche Church issues” can feel very comfortable and forget vulnerable or oppressed people fighting for survival in other parts of the world.

“Others cannot live, or exist simply, because of people of might and power and authority and wealth decide that those niche issues are the most important ones,” Randazzo said during the Friday press briefing. “Please do not forget the most vulnerable.”

“Women, who in many parts of the Church and in the world are treated as second-class citizens and are totally ignored. This is scandalous!” he added.

According to the 2024 World Migration Report, several Sub-Saharan migrants who moved to North Africa to flee poverty or hunger due to severe droughts are often exposed to violence, abuse, or exploitation after leaving their homelands.

During the press conference, Cardinal Archbishop Cristóbal López Romero of Rabat, Morocco, stated that though his diocese of 25,000 faithful is comparatively small, they are from different countries. He said an increasing number of Sub-Saharan migrants who belong to Rabat’s diocesan communities participated in regional synodal gatherings since 2021.

“We are a Church for the kingdom of God. It was something. It was really a way of putting synodality into practice in a simple but effective way. I think this should be repeated in some way in all dioceses, by organizing things depending on the local situation and the possibility of getting together,” López Romero told journalists.

Sister Xiskya Paguaga from Nicaragua, a journalist and communications expert who works in the area of “digital evangelization,” highlighted that many of the world’s poor and vulnerable can also be found in virtual spaces.

In line with the theme “Mission in the Digital Environment” of the Instrumentum Laboris, Paguaga noted that the Church should also place special attention on vulnerable people who seek consolation and support through online communities and social media platforms.

“We must reach out to these people. People wounded through their journey in life and who express themselves through digital tools,” Paguaga told journalists. “That is where we should focus our discernment.”

The Synod on Synodality will start its second week of discussions on Monday, Oct. 7, the day Pope Francis has called for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world to mark the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel as violence continues to escalate throughout the region.

Bishops and cardinals concelebrate Mass with Pope Francis to open the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 2, 2024, in St. Peter’s Square. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Oct 4, 2024 / 10:15 am (CNA).

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 itsteaching. 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. 

Decoding the Synod on Synodality: CNA’s essential terminology guide

Here’s what will be new at the Synod on Synodality Part 2

Key developments

Oct. 3: 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. 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.

Oct. 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. 

Everyone's fixated on what +Tucho said or didn't say about women and the diaconate, but did ya'll see what Group 9 said about "theological criteria and synodal methodologies for shared discernment of controversial doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues"?https://t.co/ZoAJtuVexo

— Jonathan Liedl (@JLLiedl) October 3, 2024 The story so far 

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.

Oct. 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. #Synod2024 #synodonsynodality #WalkingTogether https://t.co/jQZErFlnCn

— Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) October 2, 2024

Oct. 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 Oct. 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. #synod2024 #synodonsynodality #WalkingTogether https://t.co/6wACV6OH4N

— Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) October 2, 2024

Oct. 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.

Oct. 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: We must acknowledge our sins to become a missionary Church#synod2024 #synodonsynodality https://t.co/GXx28Y77ml

— Hannah Brockhaus (@HannahBrockhaus) October 2, 2024

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.https://t.co/H3mlfJKSZe

— Jonathan Liedl (@JLLiedl) October 2, 2024

Archbishop of Barcelona and the president of the Episcopal Conference of Spain, Cardinal Juan José Omella y Omella, arrives at St. Peter’s Basilica for a penitential service for the Synod of Bishops presided by Pope Francis on Oct. 1, 2024, in Vatican City. / Credit: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

Vatican City, Oct 3, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

Perhaps it is in the very nature of the Synod on Synodality to take steps back after having taken several steps forward. But the tone of the opening days of the synod’s final general assembly makes it apparent that, for the moment, there is no talk of revolution within the Church. 

That tone was set days before the gathering got underway this week at the Vatican, when in his speech in Belgium on Sept. 27, Pope Francis said that the synod wasn’t meant to advance what he called “trendy reforms.” 

Now 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. 

Instead, this month’s real challenge may well be how to manage the expectations of those hoping and pushing for sweeping changes. Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the synod’s general rapporteur, alluded to that danger at the end of last year’s assembly when he noted that many would be disappointed if women were not given a greater role in the Church. 

But is a major change in Church governance in the offing? That seems unlikely. Pope Francis himself, in his remarks at the opening of this year’s assembly Oct. 1, emphasized that “the presence at the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of members who are not bishops does not diminish the episcopal dimension of the assembly,” a reference to the dozens of laypeople and women religious participating as voting delegates. 

He added, with evident annoyance, that suggestions to the contrary were due to “some storm of gossip that went from one side to the other.” Indeed, there is not even “some limit or derogation to the authority of the individual bishop or the episcopal college,” he said. 

Rather, the pope tried to clarify, the assembly “indicates the form that the exercise of episcopal authority is called to take in a Church aware of being constitutively relational and therefore synodal.” In short, it is a “modus gubernandi,” a way of governing. Yet it remains a government rather than an open forum. 

There have been plenty of other signals that no revolution is imminent. 

For example, there was Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, who in his report on new ministries said that Pope Francis does not consider the moment for the female diaconate to be “ripe.” The reflection continues, in other words. The Church will endeavor to give more space to women in decision-making roles, but further discussion is needed as to any kind of ordained ministry — something the pope had already indicated in his in-flight press conference Sept. 29 on his way back from Belgium. 

Also, in their intermediate reports to the synod, the study groups commissioned by the pope to examine questions of a female diaconate and other controversial issues showed a certain prudence on the part of the bishops in addressing doctrinal questions. The bishops may concede to giving the laity a greater say in decision-making, perhaps, but not when it comes to doctrinal matters.

The study group tasked with examining the role of the “bishop-judge” is a clear example. Pope Francis has placed the bishops at the center of the marriage annulment process, asking — indeed almost imposing — that they are the final judges. But the bishops called to speak on the issue have instead reaffirmed that the bishop, in some cases, ought to have the option of delegating that responsibility to regional and national courts that “could guarantee great impartiality in decisions.” Is this a step back from what Pope Francis already has requested? 

And when it comes to making the process of selecting bishops more transparent, much depends on how the apostolic nuncio in each country exercises the selection process. There is a call for “more attention to the local Church” and “more involvement of the local Church,” but this is a question of approach, not revolutionary change.

Similarly, while the news is that the Dicastery for Bishops has launched an investigation to evaluate the practice of ad limina visits, we know already that Pope Francis has long included interdepartmental meetings in his ad limina visits when the local situation requires it. 

The study groups also have emphasized that there is no need to change the Ratio Fundamentalis, the Vatican document, already revised by Pope Francis in 2016, that serves as the basis for the formation of priests and deacons. At most, the study group text states, one could write “a preamble on the one hand clearly describing the relational identity of ordained ministers in a synodal and missionary Church and indicating on the other hand principles and criteria for the implementation of the Ratio Fundamentalis and the Ratio Nationales in harmony with this ecclesiological and missiological framework.” 

Perhaps the most interesting part concerns the question of the relationship between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church because, the study group text states, it aims to have a “document of the Holy See, edited by the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, addressed by the Holy Father to the Latin bishops and containing some guidelines on these aspects.” 

The synod’s canonical commission focuses on making diocesan/eparchial and parish pastoral councils mandatory. But this theme already is highlighted in the International Theological Commission’s document on synodality, released in 2018. 

So far, in short, there is much ado about nothing. Perhaps there is a greater emphasis on the “cry of the poor” and on the need not to focus on doctrinal issues. And yet, when it comes to making a concrete proposal, the bishops appear content with their ordinary discipline.

On the first working day of the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican on Oct. 2, 2024, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, shut down speculation regarding further theological study into the possibility of women being ordained as deacons. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 3, 2024 / 15:55 pm (CNA).

On the first working day of the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican on Oct. 2, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, shut down speculation regarding further theological study into the possibility of women being ordained as deacons.

“We would like to share from the outset that, based on the analysis conducted so far — which also takes into account the work done by the two commissions established by Pope Francis on the female diaconate — the dicastery judges that there is still no room for a positive decision by the magisterium regarding the access of women to the diaconate, understood as a degree of the sacrament of holy orders,” Fernández stated on Wednesday.

The Synod on Synodality — a multiyear, worldwide process of listening, dialogue, and discernment within the Catholic Church — commenced its second day on Thursday in which 356 participants convened at the Vatican to deep dive into the foundations and proposed mechanisms needed to realize Pope Francis’ vision for a more participative and missionary Catholic Church.

During an Oct. 3 press briefing, Father Giacomo Costa, special secretary of the synod, said this month’s discussions held in the Vatican should serve as “laboratories of synodal life.”

“We must learn. Many things may not be quite perfect but these [synod groups] will concede precisely to organize the [Vatican] dicasteries that play an effective role, then pass on decisions to other experts, bishops, men and women religious, lay persons,” Costa told journalists at the Holy See Press Office on Thursday.

“I invite you not to think that these groups are separated from the life of the Church but they are true labs of synodal life,” he continued.

“I really hope that they become opportunities that allow us to learn together as a Church in a different way; in a participative manner with different perspectives, ministries, roles — all different — but all within this journey so that the Church may proclaim the Gospel, listen, and be a sign of unity and hope in a world which is so fragmented.”

Father Giacomo Costa, special secretary of the Synod on Synodality, said during an Oct. 3, 2024, press briefing that this month’s discussions held in the Vatican should serve as “laboratories of synodal life.” Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

This year, 10 small study groups — “established at the will of the Holy Father” — were formed to facilitate deeper study into various theological, ecclesial, and pastoral issues outlined in Instrumentum Laboris, the Vatican’s working document for this month’s synod session published in July.

Although the synod’s general rapporteur, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, stated on Thursday that “nothing new” specifically emerges in Module 1 of the Instrumentum Laboris, titled “Foundations,” it is nevertheless key for synod participants to know and study it in order to “deepen our understanding of the mystery of the Church.”

“Without having the ambition of being a treatise on synodal ecclesiology, ‘[Instrumentum Laboris] seeks to outline the foundations of the vision of a missionary synodal Church,’” Hollerich told synod participants inside the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall. 

Shedding some light into the evolving operations of the 10 study groups, Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the synod, stated that these groups have an additional function to promote “broader participation” beyond the October meetings held at the Vatican. 

“During the entire time in which the 10 groups will remain operational — and with them also the canonical commission — that is until the month of June 2025, it will be possible for everyone to send contributions, observations, proposals,” Grech communicated in a statement.

“Pastors and ecclesial leaders, but also and above all every believer, man or woman, and every group, association, movement, or community will be able to participate with their own contribution,” the statement reads.

Toward the conclusion of the press conference, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, said 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.

“There’s a ‘we’ involved essentially in the work of the synod, even more important than the many ‘I’s that are there,” Flores said. “We are searching for the ‘we’ and it’s the work that goes on in these smaller groups and it’s a work in progress.” 

Pope Francis addresses participants of the first meeting of the full assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 2, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 2, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

At the first meeting of the full assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Wednesday, Pope Francis said 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.

That bishops, laymen and laywomen, priests, and religious are all synod delegates was an intentional choice, the pontiff said in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Oct. 2, and it “expresses a way of exercising the episcopal ministry consistent with the living tradition of the Church and with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council.”

“Never can a bishop, or any other Christian, think of himself ‘without others,’” he continued. “Just as no one is saved alone, the proclamation of salvation needs everyone and requires that everyone be heard.”

“Differing forms of a ‘collegial’ and ‘synodal’ exercise of the episcopal ministry” in dioceses and in the universal Church, Francis said, “will need to be identified in due course, always respecting the deposit of faith and the living tradition, and always responding to what the Spirit asks of the Churches at this particular time and in the different contexts in which they live.”

The Synod on Synodality reflects this “inclusive understanding” of a bishop’s ministry, the pope underlined, adding that bishops and laypeople must learn how to better cooperate in the Church going forward.

At the first meeting of the full assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, Pope Francis said a bishop’s ministry should include cooperation with laypeople, and the synod will need to identify “differing forms” of the exercise of this ministry. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Pope Francis in his speech addressed the more than 400 participants in the second session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of Bishops on the first day of the Oct. 2–27 Vatican gathering on synodality. The 2024 meeting has 368 voting members (delegates), 272 of whom are bishops and 96 of whom are not bishops. Among the 96 non-bishops, about half are women.

The first general gathering, or “congregation,” as it is called, was dedicated to opening greetings by Pope Francis and Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes as well as introductory speeches from synod leaders Cardinal Mario Grech and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ.

During the three-and-a-half-hour meeting, delegates also watched informational videos about the synod including videos presenting the 10 theological study groups and a canonical commission formed by Pope Francis.

In his remarks, the pontiff assured that the presence of non-bishop delegates at a Synod of Bishops does not diminish or put limitations on the authority of individual bishops and the college of bishops. “Rather, it points to the form that the exercise of episcopal authority is called to take in a Church that is conscious of being essentially relational and therefore synodal,” he said.

“Harmony is essential,” Francis emphasized, noting that there are two dangers to avoid: the danger of becoming too abstract and the danger of “pitting the hierarchy against the lay faithful.”

Participants read prayers during the first meeting of the full assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 2, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Earlier in the day, Pope Francis became the first pope since 1974 to view a historic relic of the chair of St. Peter.

The wooden chair believed to have belonged to St. Peter, the first pope, is usually encased inside the massive chair monument created in the 17th century by sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini and located on the furthest back wall of the apse of the Vatican basilica over what is called the “Altar of the Chair.”

The relic was last removed from the Bernini monument for study from 1968–1974. It has been removed now during restoration work.

The chair is a symbol of the primacy of the pope. Pope Francis was able to view the important relic in the Ottoboni sacristy of the basilica after Mass was celebrated in St. Peter’s Square for the start of the second session of the Synod on Synodality on the morning of Oct. 2.

Pope Francis views a historic relic of the chair of St. Peter on Oct. 2, 2024. Credit: Holy See Press Office

The October 2024 gathering is the last part of the discernment phase of the synodal process begun in 2021.

Recalling the focus of the monthlong meeting, which is to reflect on how to be a Church in mission, the pope added that the Church also needs to ponder how to be more merciful.

He also recommended synod delegates read Dante Alighieri’s sonnet “Vita Nuova” to meditate on the virtue of humility.

“We cannot be humble apart from love,” he said. “Christians ought to be like those women described by Dante Alighieri in one of his sonnets. They are women who grieve the loss of their friend Beatrice’s father: ‘You who bear humble semblance, with eyes downcast, showing sorrow.’”

“I encourage you to meditate on this fine spiritual text and to realize that the Church — ‘semper reformanda’ — cannot pursue her journey and let herself be renewed without the Holy Spirit and his surprises without letting herself be shaped by the hands of God the Creator, his son, Jesus Christ, and his Holy Spirit,” Francis continued.

Participants read prayers during the first meeting of the full assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 2, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

On Oct. 1, the eve of the synod, a two-day retreat for synod participants at the Vatican concluded with a penitential liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica.

At the prayer service, which more than 500 people attended, cardinals, bishops, religious, and laypeople shared testimonies and asked forgiveness on behalf of the Church for sins, including the sin of abuse or sins committed in war.

Pope Francis in his reflection said 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 it.

Pope Francis makes the sign of the cross as he opens the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality with a Mass on Oct. 2, 2024, in St. Peter’s Square. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 2, 2024 / 12:17 pm (CNA).

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 in which he warned synod delegates against imposing their own “agendas” during the nearly monthlong discussions.

“Let us be careful not to see our contributions as points to defend at all costs or agendas to be imposed,” the pope said in his homily on Oct. 2.

“Otherwise we will end up locking ourselves into dialogues among the deaf, where participants seek to advance their own causes or agendas without listening to others and, above all, without listening to the voice of the Lord,” he added.

Pope Francis celebrates Mass to open the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 2, 2024, in St. Peter’s Square. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

The second session of the 16th Ordinary Synod of Bishops, running from Oct. 2–27, marks a critical phase in the Church’s global synodal process that began three years ago.

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.

More than 400 priests, bishops, and cardinals concelebrate a Mass with Pope Francis to open the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 2, 2024, in St. Peter’s Square. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

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.

“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. 

Thousands of faithful participate in Mass with Pope Francis to open the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 2, 2024, in St. Peter’s Square. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

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.

More than 400 priests, bishops, and cardinals concelebrate a Mass with Pope Francis to open the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 2, 2024, in St. Peter’s Square. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

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.

“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.”

Pope Francis greets the crowd at the end of a Mass for the opening of the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 at St Peter's Square. / Credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican City, Oct 2, 2024 / 06:49 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has called for a global day of prayer and fasting on Oct. 7 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel amid escalating violence in the region.

The pope’s surprise announcement, made at the end of his homily at Mass in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday, comes the morning after Iran launched hundreds of missiles towards Israel following the launch of the Israeli military’s ground offensive in Lebanon.

Pope Francis said on Oct. 2 that the Church is always at the service of humanity “especially in his dramatic hour of our history, as the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to ravage entire peoples and nations.”

“I ask everyone to take part in a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the world,” he said.

Participants gather for the opening Mass for the Synod on Synodality at St. Peter's Square, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Pope Francis also revealed that he will personally go to Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major on Sunday to pray the rosary on the eve of the anniversary “to invoke the gift of peace through the intercession of Most Holy Mary.”

The pope made his plea for peace during the opening Mass for the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality, which is taking place at the Vatican Oct. 2-27. 

Speaking to the more than 400 priests, bishops, cardinals, and lay Synod delegates gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Mass on the feast of the Guardian Angels, the pope invited the members of the Synod to join him in the Marian basilica to pray the rosary for peace.

Attendees gather at the opening Mass for the Synod on Synodality at St. Peter's Square, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

“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. 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,” he said.

“To invoke the gift of peace through the intercession of Most Holy Mary, on Sunday I will go to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where I will pray the Holy Rosary and address a heartfelt plea to the Virgin; if possible, I also ask you, members of the Synod, to join me on that occasion.”

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has urged the importance of “prayer, fasting and penance” for peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land. The cardinal published a prayer for peace which he has asked Catholics to pray along with the rosary during the Marian month of October.

On the eve of the second session of the Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis said on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, that 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. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 1, 2024 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

On the eve of the second session of the Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis said on Tuesday that 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. 

“Sin is always a wound in relationships; our relationship with God, our relationships with our brothers and sisters,” the Holy Father said during a penitential liturgy held in St. Peter’s Basilica. More than 500 people were in attendance.

“How could we be credible in mission if we do not recognize and acknowledge our mistakes and bend down to heal the wounds we have caused by our sins?” the pope asked.

During the evening penitential celebration, confessions and testimonies were shared by bishops, religious, and laypeople who have been impacted by sins committed against minors, migrants, victims of war and poverty, the environment, Indigenous people, women, and synodality.        

Following each of the 10 confessions and testimonies read aloud during the liturgy was a prayerful petition for forgiveness.

‘Sins against peace’ 

“I ask forgiveness to God the Father, feeling shame for the lack of courage necessary to seek peace among peoples and nations in recognition of every human life in all its phases,” shared Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay, India.

“To make peace, it takes courage,” Gracias continued. “Say ‘yes’ to the encounter [and] ‘no’ to the clash; ‘yes’ to the respective agreements and ‘no’ to provocations.”

During an Oct. 1, 2024, penitential celebration on the eve of the second session of the Synod on Synodality, confessions and testimonies were shared by bishops, religious, and laypeople. Credit: Vatican Media

Sister Dima Fayad also shared her testimony of sins against peace she has witnessed in her homeland Syria.

“Indeed war often manages to bring out the worst side of us. It brings selfishness, violence, and greed to light,” she said.

“However, it can also bring out the best in us — the ability to resist, to unite in solidarity, and to not give in to hatred.” 

‘Sins of abuse’ 

Laurence, a South African layman who suffered sexual abuse as a child, said a lack of transparency and accountability by Church authorities had broken the trust of survivors and made his and their journey of healing more difficult.

“For decades, accusations were ignored, covered up or handled internally rather than reported to authorities,” he said.

“This lack of accountability has not only allowed abusers to continue their behavior but has also eroded the trust that so many once placed in this institution.”

Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, former head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, asked forgiveness for those who “used the condition of ordained ministry and consecrated life” to commit sins against children.

During an Oct. 1, 2024, penitential celebration on the eve of the second session of the Synod on Synodality, confessions and testimonies were shared by bishops, religious, and laypeople who have been impacted by sins committed against minors, migrants, victims of war and poverty, the environment, Indigenous people, women, and synodality. Credit: Vatican Media

“How much shame and pain I feel when considering sexual abuse of minors and of vulnerable persons,” he said. “Abuses that have stolen the innocence and profaned the sacredness of those who are weak and helpless.”

‘Sins against migrants’ 

Sara Vatteroni, who works with La Fondazione Migrantes in Tuscany, Italy, stood beside Solange, a migrant from the Ivory Coast, as she shared her testimony before the pope in St. Peter’s Basilica. 

“The Mediterranean is considered the most dangerous migration route in the world because an average of six people lose their lives every day,” she said.

“It all seems like a brutal game of fate of which we are all spectators because all we can do is wait on the shore for those who survive.”

‘Sins against creation, against Indigenous populations’

Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, asked forgiveness for sins against the environment and Indigenous populations.

“I ask forgiveness and feel shame for what we, too, the faithful have done to transform creation from a garden into a desert,” he stated.

“I ask forgiveness and feel shame for when we have not recognized the right and dignity of every human person, discriminating and exploiting it,” he continued.

On the eve of the second session of the Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis said on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, that 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. Credit: Vatican Media

“I am thinking in particular of the Indigenous peoples and for when we were accomplices in systems that favored slavery and colonialism.” 

‘Sins against women, family, youth’

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life asked for forgiveness from God on behalf of all people in the Church who failed to recognize or defend the dignity of women who have been exploited and left “mute or subservient.”

Farrell also asked forgiveness on behalf of the Church for the times it has judged and condemned the “frailties and wounds of the family” and “stolen hope and love from younger generations” by not supporting their growth and talents.   

‘Sins against poverty’

Cardinal Archbishop Cristóbal López Romero of Rabat, Morocco, expressed shame for when members of the Church have turned away from the poor, particularly clerics who “adorn ourselves at the altar with guilty valuables that steal bread from the hungry.”

“I ask forgiveness, feeling shame for the inertia that keeps us from accepting the call to be a poor Church of the poor,” he said.

‘Sins of using doctrine as stones to be hurled’

“I beg forgiveness, feeling shame for all the times we have given doctrinal justification to inhumane treatment,” confessed Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

During an Oct. 1, 2024, penitential celebration on the eve of the second session of the Synod on Synodality, confessions and testimonies were shared by bishops, religious, and laypeople who have been impacted by sins committed against minors, migrants, victims of war and poverty, the environment, Indigenous people, women, and synodality. Credit: Vatican Media

According to Fernández, many pastors “who are entrusted with the task of confirming brothers and sisters in the faith have not been able to guard and propose the Gospel as a living source of eternal newness.”

‘Sins against synodality; lack of listening, communion, and participation of all’

In light of the wide diversity found within the Catholic Church, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna, Austria, lamented the obstacles that prevent “the building of a truly syondal and symphonic Church.”

“I ask forgiveness, feeling shame for when we have transformed authority into power, suffocating plurality, not listening to the people, making it difficult for brothers and sisters to participate in the mission of the Church,” he said.

The second and last session of the global discernment phase of the Synod of Synodality will commence on Wednesday morning, Oct. 2, with the celebration of Mass with Pope Francis.

Pope Francis presides at the penitential celebration ahead of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops at St. Peter’s Basilica, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Staff, Oct 1, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of October is for a shared Catholic mission.

“We Christians are all responsible for the Church’s mission. Every priest. Everyone,” the pope said in a video released Sept. 30. 

“We priests are not the bosses of the laity but their pastors. Jesus called us, one and others — not one above others, or one on one side and others on another side, but complementing each other,” he said, adding: “We are community. That is why we need to walk together, taking the path of synodality.”

Let us #PrayTogether that the Church may continue to sustain a synodal approach as a sign of shared responsibility. May we promote the participation, communion and mission shared by priests, religious and lay people. #PrayerIntention #ClickToPray pic.twitter.com/J7XGB32P5j

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 30, 2024

“What can I do as a bus driver? A farmer? A fisher? What all of us need to do is to witness with our lives. Be co-responsible for the Church’s mission.”

The Holy Father pointed out that “the laity, the baptized, are in the Church, in their own home, and need to take care of it. So do we priests and consecrated persons. Everyone contributes what they know how to do best. We are co-responsible in mission, we participate and we live in the communion of the Church.”

Pope Francis concluded with a prayer: “Let us pray that the Church continue to sustain a synodal lifestyle in every way, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, communion, and mission shared by priests, religious, and laity.”

Pope Francis’ prayer video is promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions.

Bishops process into St. Peter's Basilica for the closing Mass of the first assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 29, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 1, 2024 / 13:05 pm (CNA).

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. This glossary aims to clarify important vocabulary related to the synod.

What is a synod?

A synod is traditionally a meeting of bishops gathered to discuss a theological or pastorally significant topic. The word “synod” comes from a Greek term meaning “to meet” or “to walk together” (“syn” = together; “hodos” = way or journey). From the first centuries, the term came to denote ecclesial assemblies of varying size and importance.

The Synod of Bishops was created in 1965 by Pope Paul VI toward the end of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) to foster a close union and collaboration between the pope and the bishops of the whole world and provide information and reflection on questions and situations touching upon the internal life of the Church and its necessary activity in the world of today.

Types of synods

Pope Paul VI established three types of synods:

• Ordinary — for matters concerning the good of the universal Church

• Extraordinary — for matters of pressing concern to the Church

• Special — focused chiefly on the concerns of a region or continent

Over the years, there have been 15 ordinary sessions, from 1967 to 2018; three extraordinary sessions, in 1969, 1985, and 2014; and 11 special synods, most recently in 2019, looking at the Pan-Amazonian region.

The synod functioned under Paul VI’s 1965 establishing decree, with some minor modifications under Pope John Paul II, until the current pontificate. The current two-part Synod on Synodality is considered the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. 

Key terms

accountability The practice of taking responsibility for one’s actions and decisions, and being able to explain them.

co-responsibility The shared responsibility of all baptized members in the Church’s mission. A central theme in the synodal discussions was clarified in the 2024 synod document to distinguish between roles flowing from holy orders and those arising from baptism.

consensus In the context of the synod, consensus doesn’t mean uniformity or democratic majority but refers to the process of listening to one another in an environment of prayer and inner freedom.

consultation A process of listening, especially as it relates to hearing from the faithful and listening to their perspectives on matters of the Christian life, before undertaking a decision. According to the Synod on Synodality organizers, “This current synod seeks to broaden the experience of ‘consultation’ to move toward a more synodal Church that more fully listens to and engages the entire people of God.”

discernment The process of distinguishing or deciding between options, guided by the Holy Spirit. The synod organizers have stressed: “We listen to each other in order to discern what God is saying to all of us.”

ecumenical dialogue The relationship between the Catholic Church and other Christian churches in pursuit of full, visible unity. 

facilitator A new role introduced in the Synod on Synodality. Facilitators are experienced individuals tasked with aiding the work in various moments of the assembly.

fraternal delegates Representatives from other Christian churches and ecclesial communities invited to participate in the synod as observers.

general congregation The assembly where all delegates, including the pope, participate in discussions.

Instrumentum Laboris Latin for “working document.” It serves as the basis for discussions during the synod. For the 2024 session, the second Instrumentum Laboris was published on July 9, 2024, and is 32 pages long. It clarified the Holy Father’s expressed desire for the deliberations of the synod to be more focused on concrete proposals for synodality rather than controversial topics. 

living tradition The set of revealed truths — apostolic tradition — regarding faith and morals that are not contained in sacred Scripture but are transmitted faithfully and continuously from one generation to the next under the living teaching authority of the Catholic Church. 

missio ad gentes The mission of the Catholic Church to bring the Gospel to those who do not know Christ or have abandoned the faith.

parrhesia A Greek term denoting courage or boldness, specifically the fearlessness that comes from the Holy Spirit. It was embodied in the hearts of the apostles at Pentecost and the courage it took among the early Christians to go out and proclaim the Gospel across the ancient world.

penitential rite A newly introduced element in the 2024 synod, where participants engage in a collective act of repentance and seeking forgiveness. This practice underscores the Church’s commitment to transparency and accountability and includes several notable innovations including the idea of “sins against synodality.”

people of God A key ecclesiological concept highlighted in the synod, emphasizing the community of all baptized faithful. The term came into particular use after Chapter 2 of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) of the Second Vatican Council and claims roots in both scriptural and patristic images of the Church.

role of the Holy Spirit Pope Francis has repeatedly emphasized that the Holy Spirit is the true “protagonist” of the synod. This term has become one of the most frequently used during public interventions by participants.

sensus fidei Also called the “sensus fidelium” (“sense of the faithful”), the supernatural instinct of the faithful to recognize and endorse authentic Christian doctrine and practice. It is described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 92) as “the supernatural appreciation of faith on the part of the whole people, when, from the bishops to the last of the faithful, they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals.”

structural changes Proposed alterations to decision-making processes within the Church aimed at widening participation of the laity while respecting episcopal authority.

study groups Ten groups were established to delve deeper into specific themes emerging from the synod’s first session. The most controversial topics raised at the first session — including authority, the possibility of women deacons, and the Church’s outreach to the LGBTQ community — were committed to the study groups to allow the synod participants to focus on ways for the Church to be truly synodal.

synodality A term emphasized in Pope Francis’ pontificate, generally understood to represent a process of discernment, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, involving bishops, priests, religious, and lay Catholics, each according to the gifts and charisms of their vocation. 

synthesis report The document summarizing the discussions at the end of a synod phase. The document will be presented to Pope Francis and traditionally serves as the foundation for his own document, a postsynodal apostolic exhortation.

transparency The quality of being clear, open, and accountable in processes and decision-making.

women’s participation A notable feature of the 2023 and 2024 synod sessions is the participation of women with voting rights. In 2024, 54 women will again have the right to vote in the synod.

youth In Vatican terms, a “youth” is defined as a person between the ages of 16 and 35. This age range extends beyond what is typically considered a “youth” in many countries, particularly the United States.

Given the Synod on Synodality is an ongoing process, interpretations or applications of these terms may evolve as the Church continues its synodal journey.

Pope Francis addresses members of the Dicastery for Evangelization, who are meeting in an extraordinary plenary assembly Aug. 29–30, 2024, to discuss the future of the Pontifical Urban University, which educates priests and religious from the Catholic Church’s mission territories. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 1, 2024 / 11:50 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed Italian priest Father Samuele Sangalli, the president of a foundation that helps underprivileged youth, as deputy secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, with responsibility over the administration of the office for new dioceses.

The new role is a promotion for the 57-year-old priest, who was already serving as undersecretary in the same department.

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization was formed in 2022 by the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium. 

It replaces the former Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, sometimes called “Propaganda Fide” (“Propagation of the Faith”) from its earlier Latin title, and the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization.

The important department, headed by the pope, is divided into two sections: the Section for Fundamental Questions regarding Evangelization in the World and the Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches.

Sangalli has been named deputy secretary of the Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches.

Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella is pro-prefect of the section on evangelizing the world and Cardinal Luis Tagle is pro-prefect of the section on missionary territories, or “new particular churches.”

Originally from Lecco, a town in northern Italy close to Milan, Sangalli is a priest of the Ambrosian rite, the liturgical rite of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Milan named for St. Ambrose, who led the diocese in the fourth century.

A priest for 28 years, Sangalli has a license in philosophy and has also studied educational sciences, which he has put to use as president of the Sinderesi Foundation, an organization that promotes education and assistance for underpriviledged youth.

According to an article by the Archdiocese of Milan, the Sindersi Foundation “is committed to stimulating [adolescents] to develop the ability to develop their own mature and competent judgment on reality, training them to take responsibility for their personal vocation.”

Delegates vote to approve a synthesis report at the conclusion of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 28, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Oct 1, 2024 / 10:00 am (CNA).

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.

On Oct. 2, Pope Francis will open the second session of the Synod on Synodality, the last part of the “discernment” phase of the synodal process begun in 2021.

Though women’s admission to ministries such as the diaconate was one of the big topics at the monthlong synod assembly last year, organizers have said the issue is now in the hands of experts after Pope Francis created a commission in the Vatican’s doctrine office to study the question at the request of 2023 synod delegates.

The commission at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) will provide an update on its work during this month’s meeting with the plan to release a document in mid-2025.

While delegates and other participants to the synodal gathering will focus on how to be a Church in mission, the discussion on women is happening in other venues: in the study commission, at local synodal gatherings, in online events, and with the pope and his cardinal advisers.

Pope Francis’ position

The possibility of allowing Catholic women to become permanent deacons has been a persistent issue in Francis’ pontificate.

And while the pope has on multiple occasions indicated his willingness to study the issue, especially the historic figure of the deaconess in the early Church, he has also given a firm response, that “deacons with holy orders” is not a possibility for women.

“Women are of great service as women, not as ministers, as ministers in this regard, within the holy orders,” he told CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell during an appearance on the program “60 Minutes” in May.

More recently, Pope Francis spoke about the different roles of men and women in the Church in a speech to students at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium on Sept. 28 during an apostolic trip that included one day in Luxembourg.

“What characterizes women, that which is truly feminine, is not stipulated by consensus or ideologies, just as dignity itself is ensured not by laws written on paper but by an original law written on our hearts,” he said, later adding that “it is terrible when a woman wants to be a man.”

In a press release issued quickly after the meeting, the university community criticized his remarks on women as “deterministic and reductive.”

Defending himself in a press conference aboard the papal plane back to Rome the next day, Francis reiterated the theological underpinnings to his current and many past statements on the dignity of women and their different role from men in the Church — the so-called “Marian-Petrine principle” first developed by the eminent Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthazar and invoked in the teaching of Church’s last four pontificates.

The principle draws on dimensions of Mary and St. Peter as symbols illustrating the different but complementary roles of women and men in the Church.

“A Church with only the Petrine principle would be a Church that one would think is reduced to its ministerial dimension, nothing else. But the Church is more than a ministry. It is the whole people of God. The Church is woman. The Church is a spouse. Therefore, the dignity of women is mirrored in this way,” Pope Francis said in an interview with America Magazine in 2022.

The dignity of women, he continued in that interview, reflected the spousal nature of the Church, which he called the “Marian principle.”

“The way is not only [ordained] ministry. The Church is woman. The Church is a spouse. We have not developed a theology of women that reflects this,” the pope said.

An open dialogue

In December 2023, Pope Francis invited theology professors to speak to him and his council of cardinal advisers on women’s participation in the Church. Earlier this year, these speeches were published in a series of books, one of which is called “Women and Ministries in the Synodal Church: An Open Dialogue.”

In his preface to the Italian-language book, Pope Francis wrote that an important aspect of synodality is having open conversations.

“The synodal process, as a process of discernment, starts from reality and experience, in open dialogue and creative fidelity to the great tradition which has preceded us and accompanies us,” he said in the preface dated March 25.

The speeches from the theologians’ meetings with Francis and the group of cardinals in December 2023 and February 2024 are largely critical of the current treatment of women in the Church and of the theological arguments of the last several pontificates for a male-only priesthood and a male-only diaconate.

In her contribution, Italian theologian and professor Sister Linda Pocher, a member of the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, contends that several of the usual arguments for a male-only priesthood are not as strong as usually held.

“I do not mean to say that we should absolutely remove the male reservation to ordained ministry. I mean to say that the rationale behind that reservation is weak, and it’s important to recognize that and be aware of it,” she wrote in “Women and Ministries in the Synodal Church: An Open Dialogue.”

In her testimony, the Italian theologian and consecrated woman of the Ordo Virginum (“Order of Virgins”), Giuliva Di Berardino, argued that the Catholic Church is missing a “public and official” female ministry.

“The point, we have to recognize, is that the Catholic world lacks the specificity of a women’s ministry that can enlarge the spiritual motherhood of the individual woman, her specific gift, to the universal dimension of the Church,” she said.

In another Italian-language book to come out of the encounters with cardinals, three theologians — two women and one priest — look critically at the “Marian-Petrine principle” of Hans Urs von Balthazar and ask if other interpretations of Scripture, and of the Virgin Mary, could not give support to a ministry open to women. 

In the preface to this book, called “De-Masculinize the Church?”, Pope Francis writes that “we have realized, especially during the preparation and celebration of the synod, that we have not listened enough to the voice of women in the Church and that the Church still has much to learn from them.”

He says the starting point is Hans Urs von Balthasar’s reflection on the Marian and Petrine principles in the Church, “a reflection that has inspired the magisterium of recent pontificates in the effort to understand and value the different ecclesial presence of men and women.”

“The end point, though, is in God’s hands,” the pontiff adds.

“Here is what I desire at this point in the synod process: that we do not tire of walking together, for only when we walk are we what we must be, the living body of the Risen One on the move, going out, meeting our brothers and sisters, fearlessly, on the streets of the world,” he says.

For Pope Francis, the journey of the Synod on Synodality is the destination, and the journey is listening to the lived realities of our brothers and sisters in Christ and walking with them.

As the philosopher and theologian Lucia Vantini put it in her presentation to the Council of Cardinals last year: “The issue of ministries is not now on the agenda, but it is now in the air and its pressure is felt: Like a ghost it roams our rooms, disrupts thinking, and inhibits frankness among us.”

Solemn Mass is celebrated at St. Clement Parish, Ottawa, Canada, which is entrusted to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP). / Credit: Public Domain

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 30, 2024 / 17:53 pm (CNA).

The Vatican has announced it will carry out an apostolic visitation to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), an institution whose priests celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) and which is in full communion with the Catholic Church.

The FSSP should not be confused with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X (SSPX), a traditionalist group that is not in full communion with the Catholic Church and which has an irregular canonical status.

The Sept. 30 statement from the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life says that “it has called for an apostolic visitation to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter … in order to deepen the understanding of this society of apostolic life of pontifical right and to offer the most appropriate support to its journey of following Christ.”

The apostolic visit, says the text signed by the prefect of the dicastery, Cardinal Joăo Braz de Aviz, and Sister Simona Brambilla, the dicastery’s secretary, is taking place “in the context of the process of accompanying the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life that were previously established by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei and which Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes has placed under the jurisdiction of this dicastery.”

In a statement published by the FSSP on Sept. 26, the institution specified that “as the prefect of this dicastery himself made clear to the superior general and his assistants during a meeting in Rome, this visit does not originate in any problems of the fraternity but is intended to enable the dicastery to know who we are, how we are doing, and how we live so as to provide us with any help we may need.”

“The last ordinary apostolic visit of the fraternity was undertaken in 2014 by the Ecclesia Dei commission,” the statement added.

What is the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter?

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter states on its website that it is a society of apostolic life of pontifical right whose priests “work together for a common mission in the Catholic Church, under the authority of the Holy See.”

In its apostolate and mission, the FSSP uses “the liturgical books in force in 1962,” meaning it celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass, “as specified in its decree of erection of 1988, confirmed by decree of Pope Francis dated Feb. 11, 2022.”

In February 2022 the Holy Father authorized the FSSP to continue celebrating the TLM, but he also encouraged them to reflect on what is established in Traditionis Custodes. The authorization was then confirmed by the Holy Father himself in March of this year.

The general house of the FSSP is in Fribourg, Switzerland, and has about 368 priests and 201 seminarians. The society has eight members in Mexico, 10 in Chile, 13 in Spain, and a group of 25 in Canada.

What is the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei?

The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei was created by Pope John Paul II in 1988 to dialogue with the Lefebvrists and to facilitate full communion with the Catholic Church for those “linked in various ways to the society founded by Archbishop [Marcel] Lefebvre” (the SSPX).

The Vatican further noted that “the pontifical commission exercises the authority of the Holy See over the various religious institutes and communities erected by it, which have as their own rite the ‘extraordinary form’ of the Roman rite [TLM] and preserve the preceding traditions of religious life.”

Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes

The Vatican published Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes on July 16, 2021. The text severely limits the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (extraordinary form), or Tridentine Mass, i.e. celebrated with the 1962 missal.

Pope Francis thus modified the provisions given by Pope Benedict XVI in his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, which in 2007 had liberalized the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Cardinal Mario Grech and Pope Francis at the conclusion of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 28, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 30, 2024 / 17:10 pm (CNA).

Secretary-General of the Synod of Bishops Cardinal Mario Grech opened a two-day retreat on Monday for participants of the second session of the Synod on Synodality, encouraging synod participants and the Catholic faithful to pray the holy rosary for the duration of the Oct. 2–27 global meeting.

“I would like to invite everyone, in this month of October devoted to Mother Mary, to pray with the holy rosary during the synod so that this prayer may accompany us on the journey of these days,” Grech said. “The rosary is an endless rumination of the word of God.”

“Let us invoke together this month Mother Mary, model of the Church, so that the synodal assembly that begins its journey today may be a renewed Pentecost,” he added.

All 464 voting and nonvoting participants in the year’s synod meeting — including bishops, priests, religious, and laypeople — were invited to attend a retreat at the Vatican in preparation for synod discussions, which will start on Wednesday and include themes of pastoral care and formation, ecclesial structures, and the clarification of Church teachings and doctrine.

The retreat included the communal prayer of lauds led by Mother Maria Ignazia Angelini, OSB; two guided meditations given by Father Timothy Radcliffe, OP, spiritual adviser to the synod; time for personal prayer within the walls of the Vatican; and Mass in the evening.    

Mary: a model of prayer for the Church

At the beginning of the retreat, Grech reiterated the primary importance of prayer: “We begin our journey with the days of retreat. They are not a preparation for the synod but an integral part of it.”

“In fact, the synod cannot but be a prayer, a liturgy, in which the main actor is not us but the Holy Spirit,” he said to approximately 400 people gathered in the Vatican’s New Synod Hall for a time of prayer and reflection.

Grech gifted each participant with rosary beads from the Holy Father and exhorted those on retreat to turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the “model and image of the Church,” to learn to be a listening Church with a “synodal style.”

“Mary is for us today a model of prayer as we live these intense days of the synodal assembly,” Grech said.

“Mary is also a synodal woman because with her life she teaches us that the Church — as emerges from the teaching and theological reflection of Benedict XVI — is not the work of our hands but the work of God.”

Radcliffe to retreatants: ‘Breathe deeply’ of the Holy Spirit

During his morning meditations, Radcliffe said the “challenge of the synod is for us to help each other to breathe deeply the rejuvenating Holy Spirit who makes us alive, young, in God.” 

“Let us give each other breathing space. The oxygen of the breath. The oxygen of the Holy Spirit,” Radcliffe said to his listeners.

“This indestructible peace does not mean that we live in perfect harmony. We are gathered in this assembly because we do not,” he said. “But no discord can destroy our peace in Christ, for we are one in him.” 

Reflecting on the four Gospel accounts of the Resurrection, Radcliffe said the disciples, who received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, “share in [Jesus’] risen life” and are “ready to be sent out to preach.”

“The mission of the synodal Church calls us to be like Mary Magdalene, the beloved disciple [John], and Peter — ‘searchers’ for the risen Lord,” he said. “We, too, must be close to the ‘searchers’ of our time, but we shall only become preachers of the Resurrection if we are alive in God.”

The Oct. 2–27 meeting to be held in the Vatican with Pope Francis will close the discernment phase of the Synod on Synodality. The conclusions of both the 2023 and 2024 global sessions — as accepted and approved by the pope — are then expected to be implemented in all local Churches with the purpose of creating a listening and more participative Catholic Church worldwide.

Pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square hold up a sign that says “pace,” which means “peace” in Italian. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Sep 25, 2024 / 17:40 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Myanmar and Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego will lead the inauguration of the Catholic Institute for Nonviolence on Sept. 29 in Rome at the Istituto Maria Santissima Bambina, a convent just outside St. Peter’s Square.

The institute’s goal is to deepen “Catholic understanding of and commitment to the practice of Gospel nonviolence,” according to a Sept. 25 press release.

Sister Teresia Wachira of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary and renowned author and researcher Maria Stephan will lead the inauguration alongside the two cardinals.

The Institute is “aimed at facilitating nonviolence research, resources, and experiences for Catholic Church leaders, communities, and institutions” and has a 21-member advisory council featuring nonviolence scholars, researchers, and Church leaders.  

The council will focus on several areas of research including “Gospel nonviolence,” which relates to understanding nonviolence as a “way of life.” It will focus on “how the Church can integrate Gospel nonviolence throughout its life and work” as well as highlighting how the Church can work with other religions to spread the practice of nonviolence.

There will also be a concentration in “nonviolent practices and strategic power,” which will investigate nonviolent strategies for real-world problems. The third concentration, “contextual experiences of nonviolence,” will connect those who have lived out nonviolence and will emphasize “case studies of nonviolent practice.”

Next month, the institute will contribute to the 2024 Synod on Synodality by offering seminars on questions of nonviolence and legitimate self-defense as well as discussing formation in nonviolent conflict management.

The advisory council includes Maria Clara Bingemer, a professor of theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Archbishop Peter Chong of Suva, Fiji; and Erica Chenoweth, dean and professor at Harvard University known for her work on nonviolence. 

The inauguration takes place amid debates over what constitutes a just war according to Catholic just war theory. McElroy recently said in a Sept. 23 interview with Vatican News that “just war theories are a secondary element in Catholic teaching; the first is that we should not engage in warfare at all.” 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that all citizens and governments “are obliged to work for the avoidance of war,” though “governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed” (CCC, 2308, 2309).

The institute originates from Pax Christi International’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative. Pax Christi is a Catholic nonviolence movement that seeks to address the root causes of violent conflict. 

The event will take place on the same day as the Pax Christi International Peace Award ceremony, which has been awarded to men and women who have stood up for nonviolence since 1992. This year’s recipient is Sister Gladys Montesinos, a Peruvian Carmelite missionary who works with Indigenous peoples in the Bolivian Amazon. 

Pax Christi International will stream the inauguration on its YouTube channel.

Pope Francis meets with young adults participating in the annual Economy of Francesco gathering on Sept 25, 2024, as the movement for economic change — inspired by the pope and St. Francis of Assisi — launches a permanent foundation. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Sep 25, 2024 / 15:10 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday met with young adults participating in the annual Economy of Francesco gathering as the movement for economic change — inspired by the pope and St. Francis of Assisi — launched a permanent foundation.

“It is not the great and powerful who change the world for the better: Love is the first and greatest factor of change,” the pope told the foundation’s founding members and others from more than 30 countries at the Vatican on Sept. 25.

According to an announcement on Instagram, the new foundation, formally instituted on Sept. 23, will work in three areas: research and study, business and innovation, and education and culture.

Launched from Assisi, Italy, the foundation’s mission is to foster a new economic culture — one that prioritizes human dignity, environmental care, and integral development,” the announcement said.

The first Economy of Francesco conference was held online in November 2020 in response to the pope’s call for “an economy attentive to the person and to the environment.”

The livestreamed event has been repeated every year, and in 2022, a three-day in-person conference was held in Assisi, Italy, with Pope Francis attending on the last day.

“Thank you,” Pope Francis said on Wednesday, “for having taken seriously my invitation to ‘reanimate’ the economy and for having welcomed the indications I gave to you on the occasion of your annual conferences.”

“They form part of the framework of the social doctrine of the Church and, in the final analysis, have their root in the Gospel,” he said. “You may have encountered many teachers over the course of your studies or work experiences, but the reference to the Gospel, while in sincere dialogue with everyone, guarantees you an exceptional master, Jesus, the only one who could say: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ (Jn 14:6).”

The pope also underlined that “the world of economics is in need of change” but added that while it may be good to become a great economist, government minister, or Nobel laureate, the best way is through love.

“You will change [the economy] above all by loving it, in the light of God, by imbuing it with the values and the strength of goodness, with the evangelical spirit of Francis of Assisi,” he said. “[St. Francis] was the son of a merchant, he knew the strengths and defects of that world. Love the economy, truly love the workers, the poor, prioritizing the situations of greatest suffering.”

“Be brave, dear friends! Be brave!” he encouraged. “If you are faithful to your vocation, your life will flourish, you will have wonderful stories to tell your children and grandchildren. … Believe me: It is worth spending your life to change the world for the better.”

During the Wednesday audience, Pope Francis also noted the presence of several babies in the room off the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall. 

“I see that there are some children here: This is good, in a culture that prefers to have dogs and cats rather than children,” he said, adding: “We must beat Italy up a bit” in reference to the country’s low birth rate.