Pope Francis: ‘Synod will carry forward much fruit’

Pope Francis has thanked all those who took part in the three-week synod on the family and said it will definitely “carry forward much fruit”.

The Pope made the comments during his Angelus address to the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square on Sunday.

“This morning, with the Holy Mass celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica, the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the family ended. I invite everyone to give thanks to God for these three weeks of intense work, animated by prayer and a spirit of true communion. It was tiring, but it was a true gift of God, which will definitely carry forward much fruit,” he said, according to a translation by Zenit.

He added: “The word ‘synod’ means ‘to walk together’. And that which we experienced was the experience of the Church on this journey, having set out especially with families of God’s holy people throughout the world.”

Earlier in the day, in a homily at a Mass to conclude the synod, Pope Francis warned against falling into a “scheduled faith” and “ignoring what the Lord places before our eyes.”

During the Angelus address, the Pope also spoke about the plight of refugees across the world.

“Even those families who are suffering the most, who have been uprooted from their lands, were present with us in the synod, in our prayers and in our work, through the voices of some of their pastors present in the Assembly,” he said.

“These people are in search of dignity, these families looking for peace are still with us, the Church does not abandon them, because they are part of the people that God wants to free from slavery and lead to freedom.”