Dear Parishioners and Friends,
The first session of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality was held in October 2023. The second session, set to bring 368 bishops, priests, religious and laypeople to the Vatican, will begin by asking forgiveness for various sins on behalf of all the baptised. (Vatican City CNS)
As Synod members did before last year’s session, they will spend two days on retreat before beginning work. This period of reflection will conclude on October 1 with a penitential liturgy presided over by Pope Francis in St Peter’s Basilica.
The liturgy will include time to listen to the testimonies of three people: one who suffered from the sin of abuse, one from the sin of war and a third from the sin of indifference to the plight of migrants. There will also be a confession of several sins. “The aim is not to denounce the sin of others, but to acknowledge oneself as a member of those who, by omission or action, become the cause of suffering and responsible for the evil inflicted on the innocent and defenceless.” The sins confessed will include those against peace; against creation, against Indigenous populations and migrants; the sin of abuse; sins against women, family and youth; the sin of “using doctrine as stones to be hurled”; sins against poverty; and sins against the lack of listening and communion (synodality).
The liturgy, while open to all, will be specifically geared toward young people, as it “directs the Church’s inner gaze to the faces of new generations... Indeed, it will be the young people present in the Basilica who will receive the sign that the future of the Church is theirs, and that the request for forgiveness is the first step of a faith-filled and missionary credibility that must be reestablished.”
“The Church is in a dynamic of conversion”, said Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod. That message is being communicated to young people and the whole world.
Let us keep the Synod in our prayers during these coming weeks. May the Holy Spirit guide the participants as they discern the way ahead.
Fr Silvio
