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Letter of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to the People of God
Click here to read the letter
Click here to read the Synthesis Report of the First Session (October 2023) A Synodal Church in Mission.The Synthesis Report from the First Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
Click here to read the synthesis report of "A Synodal Church in Mission" from the first session (October 4-29, 2023)Congratulations to Linda Staudt
The Co-Chair of the Diocese of London's Synod Committee, Linda Staudt, is one of seven lay-people from North America (and one of only four people from Canada) selected by Pope Francis to attend the XVI General Assembly of the Synod in October 2023 and 2024. Congratulations Linda, we are very proud of your leadership and insight and confident the work of the Synod, and your role in it, will bear lasting fruit.
Intrumentum Laboris
Click here to read the Instrumentum Laboris for the First Synod Session in October 2023. Other documents and commentary are available at www.synod.va and www.synodresources.org. There is a Vatican News document on the IL at this link.
"The Instrumentum Laboris will be the basis for the work of the participants in the General Assembly of the Synod on Synodality, which begins in the Vatican in October 2023 and concludes with a second Assembly one year later.
Deliberately conceived as a starting point and not a point of arrival, the Instrumentum Laboris brings together the experiences of dioceses around the world over the last two years, starting from 10 October 2021, when Pope Francis set in motion a journey to discern what steps to take “to grow as a synodal Church.” The Instrumentum laboris, therefore, is intended as an aid for discernment “during” the General Assembly, while at the same time serving as a means of preparation for participants as it looks ahead to the gathering. “Indeed, the purpose of the synodal process” the document states, repeating the words of the earlier Document for the Continental stage, “is not to produce documents but to open horizons of hope for the fulfilment of the Church’s mission.”" (the full story from Vatican News is at this link.)
Final Document for the North American Continental Stage of the Synodal Process"The North American Final Document for the Continental Stage of the 2021-2024 Synod marks the end of the Continental Stage of the 2021-2024 Synod: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission. For the North American Continental Stage, the United States and Canada held twelve virtual assemblies: seven in English, three in Spanish, and two in French between December 2022 and January 2023. In total, 931 delegates and 146 bishops from Canada and the United States were appointed to participate in one of these twelve assemblies to share their reflections and responses to the Document for the Continental Stage (DCS) issued by the Holy See’s General Secretariat of the Synod in October 2022. Those reflections were brought together by the North American Writing Team to create the Final Document." Click here to read the document
Working Document for the Continental Stage
Can be found on the Synod site at this link.
Summary Report for Canada by the CCCB
Synthesis Reports were prepared by each of Canada’s four Regional Episcopal Assemblies – Western, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic regions. These four regional reports were then received by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and used to draft a national synthesis, which has been submitted to the General Secretariat of the Synod of the Holy See on 15 August 2022. The national synthesis document is divided into 11 sections, collectively reflecting on the major themes of this process and the voices heard.
This report is the culmination of a sincere listening exercise that occurred in every diocese across the country. What was most present in the regional reports has been included in the national synthesis, providing a thorough and thoughtful account of the exchanges which took place during the initial phase of the synodal process. Click here to read the document.Summary Report for the Province of Ontario
This report was prepared by a committee of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario. Many of the themes raised in our local Synod sessions can be heard across the province. You can read the report in English at this link (French is not available at this time, but will be added soon).
Diocese of London's Synod Summary Report
Together on the Road: Conversations in the Diocese of London for a Listening Church
A Synthesis of the Synodal Listening Sessions: Observations, Reflections and Considerations with a cover letter from co-chairs of the Diocesan Synod Committee is available at this link.
Bishop Fabbro's letter on the Synod Summary Report is available in English and French.
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Letter to the Faithful
You can read Bishop Fabbro's December 10, 2021 letter to the faithful at this link.
For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission
- Prayer for the Synod - 1 page PDF
- You can read the Vatican's preparatory document at this link. Downloadable PDFs are also available.
- The "Address of the Holy Father Francis on the occasion of the Moment of Reflection for the Beginning of the Synodal Journey" on 9 October 2021at this link.
- The Vatican's offical website for the Synod is https://www.synod.va/en.html.
- Please read the Homily of Pope Francis "Opening of the Synodal Path" from Mass on 10 October 2021 at this link.
- Bishop Fabbro launched the Synod in the Diocese of London on 17 October 2021 with Mass at St. Peter's Cathedral Basilica. You can read his homily at this link. You can also watch a recording of the homily from the livestream of the Mass below. The homily starts at 16:31.
For the Diocese of London the Theme is Together on the Road: Conversations for a Listening Church
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Resources
Documents from the Vatican
- Prayers for the Synod during Mass (Eng | Fr | Sp | Port | Ital)
- Letter to Priests (March 19) from Cardinal Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops and Archbishop Emeritus Lazzara You Heung Sik, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy
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Bishop Fabbro's Homily to Open the Synod in the Diocese of London