VATICAN CITY (CNS/Vatican News) — The second assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality will meet October 2-27 and will be preceded by several formal studies coordinated by the synod general secretariat working with various offices of the Roman Curia. The Vatican announced the dates for the assembly on February 17. The assembly will be preceded by a two-day retreat for members on September 30 and October 1, the Vatican said.
The upcoming session of the synod will have the same duration as the first session held in October. It is expected that almost all of the 365 synod members will also participate in the second session. Pope Francis has also appointed six new consultants to the General Secretariat of the Synod, adding to the existing ten consultants.
In response to a formal call by members of the first assembly of the synod, Pope Francis has agreed to the establishment of “study groups that will initiate, with a synodal method, the in-depth study of some of the themes that emerged.”
In a chirograph, a document directly written and signed by the pope, released on February 17, the pope said that “these study groups are to be established by mutual agreement between the competent dicasteries of the Roman Curia in relation to a particular theme under examination and the General Secretariat of the Synod, which is entrusted with coordination.”
The chirograph reiterates the contents of Canon Law (Canons 342 and 343), Predicate Evangelium (constitution on the reform of the Roman Curia released in 2022) and the 2018 Apostolic Constitution on the synod, Episcopalis Communio, stating that the synod secretariat is a permanent institution that serves the synod of bishops and is not a part of the Roman Curia. The General Secretariat of the Synod, led by Cardinal Mario Grech, will coordinate the work of the study groups among the dicasteries. As an entity, the Secretariat is not part of the Roman Curia but rather reports directly to the Pope.
However, the papal note did not list the topics to be studied nor the members of the groups. The synod office hoped the approved groups and their members could be announced by mid-
March. Pope Francis’ note focused on the obligation of the offices of the Roman Curia to work with the synod since both bodies, though distinct, are established “to promote in a synodal spirit the mutual relations of the bishops and of the particular Churches over which they preside, among themselves and in communion with the Bishop of Rome.”
In their synthesis report at the end of the first synod assembly, members voted to ask Pope Francis for several studies before the 2024 assembly, including on “the terminological and conceptual understanding of the notion and practice of synodality” itself and another study on “the canonical implications of synodality,” conducted by “an intercontinental special commission of theological and canonical experts.”
The document “Towards October 2024” by the General Secretariat of the Synod, published on 11 December 2023, already emphasised that the next session would focus on how to live synodality at all levels in the Church. This new papal document clarifies that some of the most significant themes which emerged from listening to the Churches will require a substantial amount of time for theological, canonical, and pastoral reflection.
Synod members also called for further theological study on the permanent diaconate and
said, “theological and pastoral research on the access of women to the diaconate should be continued, benefiting from consideration of the results of the commissions specially established by the Holy Father, and from theological, historical and exegetical research already undertaken.”
“If possible,” members said, “the results of this research should be presented to the next session of the assembly.” After a request of the Women’s International Union of Superiors General, Pope Francis established a commission to study the historical identity and role of women deacons. The commission worked from 2016 to 2019, and the pope gave a report on it to the superiors general, but it was not made public. He set up a second commission in 2020 after the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon; its results have not been published either.
The assembly of the synod on synodality also said, “We believe the time has come for a revision of the 1978 document Mutuae Relationes, regarding the relationships between bishops and religious in the Church. We propose that this revision be completed in a synodal manner, consulting all involved.”
On several occasions after his election in 2013, Pope Francis said he had asked the dicastery for religious to revise Mutuae Relationes, a set of directives issued jointly with the then-Congregation for Bishops in 1978 to provide guidance to bishops and religious in their relationship. Pope Francis has said the norms need revision to ensure religious are not treated simply as employees or human resources for a diocese and to ensure that the orders’ autonomy does not lead them to activities in conflict with a local church.
The synod assembly also called for “a thorough review of formation for ordained ministry in view of the missionary and synodal dimensions of the Church.” Assembly members said that involves “reviewing the ‘Ratio Fundamentalis’ that determines how formation is structured.”
The Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis (The Gift of the Priestly Vocation) — the instrument for the formation of priests— was last updated in late 2016 and provides guidelines for preparing men for the Latin-rite priesthood and ensuring their continuing education, training and support.
