Vatican Synod 2023
- Opening of the synodal process
- Travelling the Synodal Path in Dioceses
- The Continental Stage
- The Universal Stage
Synod 2023 Preparatory Document – For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission
Resources – includes Official Documents, Pope Francis and Synodality, Spiritual and Liturgical Resources, Frequently Asked Questions, etc.
For details of the Diocese of Northampton Synod Assembly, please visit our web page.
Here is a 1 minute summarty of How the Synod has worked.
On Friday 20th October, the Synod reached the half-way point and this 4-minute video from ‘Rome Reports’ gives a summary of the last two weeks.
You can find videos of the daily proccedings here.
XVI General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome
On Wednesday 04 October marked the end of the season of Creation ad the beginning of the beginning of the 16th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome. It is also the day that Pope Francis has launched the follow up to ‘Laudato Si’ titled ‘Laudato Deum’. You can read the Apostolic Exhortation here https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231004-laudate-deum.html
A brief video has been produced by Vatican news and can be viewed here https://youtu.be/dSadLAJQuwc?si=C2Bn897upgyRSVlh
Bishop David shares his hopes for the Synod here.
To begin the synod process in Rome, Pope Francis invited leaders of other Church leaders to join him at tha Vatican for an ecumenical prayer Vigil. Please take some time to read the Holy Father’s homily here. Following the service. the synod attendees entered into a time of retreat led by the English Dominican Father Timothy Ratcliffe.
One of the voting members, Fr Jan Nowotnik and Ana Rowlands, an expert faciltator recently spoke on camera about the upcoming Synod. They both stated that the Synod is focussed on the “who” noth the “what” of the Church.
Looking to the week afyer the start of the Synod
Here are links to seeveral documents on the XVI General Assembly
Opening of the Works of the XVI ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
1st General Congregation of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, 04.10.2023
Opening of the Works of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission”.
Synod on Synodality 2023: Facts, anecdotes, and analysis from the first week
Much more information can be found on the Synond 21-24 Website.
Instrumentum Laboris
The Instrumentum Laboris is a document that will guide 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 in October 2024. The document was publised in June 2023 and is availaible here for you to download.
The Instrumentum Laboris presents an inclusive Church that embraces diversity and welcomes everyone. It aims to continue to animate the synodal process in the ordinary life of the Church identifying which pathways the Spirit invites us to walk along more decisively as one People of God.
The Instrumentum Laboris consists of two main sections that will guide the discernment of those present at the first session of the Synod in October 2023: a reflection on the experience of a synodal Church thus far; and the articulation of three main priorities for a synodal Church.
