Synod changes to broaden, streamline debate
Vatican, Jul. 07 (CWNews.com) - The October meeting of the Synod of Bishops will include a much larger representation of representatives from other Christian communities, and the plans for the bishops' discussions have been modified to encourage broader discussion.
At a press conference in Rome on July 7, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic and Msgr. Fortunato Frezza-- the secretary general and under-secretary, respectively, of the Synod of Bishops-- briefed reporters on the plans for the Synod. They also introduced the working document, or instrumentum laboris, that will form the basis for the bishops' discussions.
The number of ecumenical representatives attending the Synod sessions, which will be held October 2- 23, has been doubled, Archbishop Eterovic announced. In one of the "concrete gestures of ecumenism" that he promised at the start of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI called for the inclusion of 12 representative from the Orthodox and Protestant communities, the archbishop said.
Although he did not identify which non-Catholic communities will be represented, Archbishop Eterovic said that they would include the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox as well as Reformation bodies, and particularly those religious groups with which the Vatican has had strong ecumenical contacts. As observers, the non-Catholic delegates will not speak in plenary sessions, but can join in the discussions of the smaller working groups.
During general sessions, prelates will be limited to 6-minute presentations, rather than the 8-minute talks allowed in previous Synod meetings. This change, the secretary-general explained, is intended to speed discussion, and to allow for another innovation: the introduction of open-discussion periods at the close of each day. The Synod will meet for 3 weeks of discussion, rather than 4 as in the past. But these discussions will follow the usually pattern, being divided between plenary sessions and smaller working groups. There will be 12 such working groups, split by linguistic groups.
There will be 250 prelates participating in the Synod, as in the past. Most of the delegates will be chosen by the world's episcopal conferences, with the largest conferences receiving greater numerical representation. Other participants will include members of the Roman Curia, special delegates appointed by the Pope, and auditors "whose expertise on the questions studied will help the synod fathers in their work." Archbishop Eterovic noted that on the day after his election, Pope Benedict XVI remarked that he was looking forward to the Synod meeting, as "a high point of the Year of the Eucharist" called by Pope John Paul II (bio - news). Asked whether the Holy Father will participate in some of the Synod sessions, the Croatian prelate replied that the Pope has kept his calendar clear for the month of October so that he will be available.
The October session will be the 11th regular general assembly of the Synod of Bishops. There have also been 2 extraordinary general assemblies and 8 special Synods for the bishops of particular regions.