The 2023 Synod of Bishops will include lay people, half of whom will be women, organisers revealed in a landmark development for the Church’s synod process.
According to Vatican News, 70 lay people appointed directly by Pope Francis, 50 per cent of whom shall be women, will enjoy voting rights at the assembly, which will consist of around 370 voting members and 400 participants in total.
These signify the key changes presented on Wednesday by Pope Francis for the Synod Assembly, which will take place in October and seal the synodal path he started in the Autumn of 2021.
These developments were presented by Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Secretariat for the Synod, and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the Synod’s General Relator.
“This is not a revolution but an important change,” they specified at a press conference at the Holy See Press Office on Wednesday.
On the same day, the new arrangements were communicated in a letter to the heads of the Continental Assemblies held recently in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Oceania.
The letter states that no current regulations have been repealed and that the 2018 Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis Communio already provided for the presence of “non-bishops” at the Synod.
The 70 non-bishop members will be chosen by the Pope from a list of 140 prepared by the 7 International Reunions of Bishops’ Conferences and the Assembly of Patriarchs of Eastern Catholic Churches.
They shall represent “various groupings of the faithful of the people of God (priests, consecrated women, deacons, lay faithful)”, according to the letter.
It has also been reported that The Synod Assembly shall no longer include “auditors”. “In this way, the specifically episcopal nature of the Synodal Assembly is not affected, but is rather confirmed,” the General Secretariat of the Synod’s letter emphasises.
“We are talking about 21 per cent of the Assembly remaining a plenary assembly of bishops, with a sizable participation of non-bishops,” Cardinal Hollerich reiterated further. “Their presence ensures the dialogue between the prophecy of the people of God and the discernment of the pastors.”
Speaking about the requirement for half of the 70 to be women and the presence of young people, the Cardinals said this is “because that is the way our world is”.
The choice of the 140 candidates shall take into account each person’s general culture, prudence, knowledge and participation in the synodal process. As members, they have the right to vote.
This aspect is crucial, noted Cardinal Grech, adding that he prays someday “we will be able to do without the vote since the Synod is a discernment, a prayer.”
The five women religious and five men religious elected by their respective organisations of Superiors General will also be eligible to vote. They will replace the ten clerics of the Institutes of Consecrated Life who attended past Synod Assemblies.
All elections must be ratified by the Pope, and their names shall not be made public until the Pope confirms their election.
Vatican News has also reported that for the first time, the Synod will include several “facilitators”.
Cardinal Grech explained that this choice was born from the experience of the Synod study groups, “which showed us that the presence of experts can create a fruitful dynamic.”
“There are bishops who have never participated in the Synod, so we need to facilitate the spiritual dimension,” Cardinal Hollerich explained.
He also noted that for the first time, there will also be bishops from countries that do not have an Episcopal Conference represented at the Assembly. Cardinal Hollerich added that his Archdiocese of Luxembourg is one of them, along with Estonia and Moldova.
In conclusion, the two Cardinals agreed that “the Church will be more complete, and it will be a joy to have her represented in her entirey in Rome”.
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