Synod on Synodality
October 4-29, 2023, Vatican City, Rome
Don’t know what the Synod is all about? Check out the What’s a Synod? page first!
The Holy Father has convened a Synod and has asked the people of God to participate in the synodal process. The final stage of the Synod will take place at the Ordinary General Assembly of Bishops in October of 2023 and October of 2024.
“The Synod is a process of spiritual discernment, of ecclesial discernment, that unfolds in adoration, in prayer and in dialogue with the word of God.”
-Pope Francis
Who will participate in the October General Assembly of Bishops?
The Vatican has announced a list of participants who will join the Holy Father in Rome for the Synod on Synodality assembly. The individuals chosen to attend include cardinals, bishops, priests, religious, and laity. Most were chosen by Pope Francis, others were selected by the bishops conferences around the world.
What will they be discussing?
Drawing on listening sessions already conducted worldwide at the diocesan, national, and continental level, the Instrumentum Laboris or “working tool” for the upcoming 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops covers a range of topics highlighted in reports from listening sessions held with Catholics at the most local levels.
Archdiocesan Synodal Synthesis
The Archdiocese of San Francisco held listening sessions, facilitated by the Catholic Leadership Institute, online and in-person, and invited parishioners to participate in a Disciple Maker Index Survey in 2021 and 2022. This report was then sent to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to be included in a National Report sent to Rome. You can download the Synodal Synthesis in PDF format.
Prayer for the Synod
We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather together in Your name.
With You alone to guide us, make Yourself at home in our hearts;
Teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it.
We are weak and sinful; do not let us promote disorder.
Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions.
Let us find in You our unity so that we may journey together to eternal life and not stray from the way of truth and what is right.
All this we ask of You, who are at work in every place and time, in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever.
Amen.