Synod Briefing – Day 15: Presentation of the final document
By Tiziana Campisi and Roberto Paglialonga
The draft of the Final Document was distributed today, October 21, to all participants in the Synod.
Speaking during the daily briefing in the Vatican’s Press Office, Dr Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication and President of the Synod’s Commission for Information, said: "We have reached a crucial moment".
Moments of prayer and synodal initiatives
Dr Ruffini expressed the joy felt by the Synod members following the papal Mass in St. Peter’s Square the previous day, where 14 new saints were canonized.
This significant event took place during World Mission Sunday, at the heart of the Synodal journey.
Ruffini also mentioned a prayer session held yesterday afternoon, which brought together digital missionaries online, as part of the Church's "Listening" initiative, highlighted in the Instrumentum laboris.
On Friday, he said, at 5:00 PM in Palazzo San Calisto, a "Synod of Sport" event, organized by Athletica Vaticana and the Dicastery for Culture and Education, will take place. Many Synod participants have signed up for the event, which will include discussions with athletes—refugees, Paralympians, and Olympians—on themes of peace and mutual service.
Presentation of the draft final document
Sheila Pires, Secretary of the Commission for Information, gave a recap of today’s proceedings, noting that “we are now in the final week of the Synod on Synodality.”
The day began with a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, where Cardinal Mario Grech emphasized in his homily that the Synod should be seen as a new beginning, aimed at proclaiming the Word of God to all.
Afterward, the General Congregation—attended by 351 members—opened with a meditation by Father Timothy Radcliffe on the themes of freedom and responsibility.
Then, the draft of the Final Document was presented by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich.
Described as a “provisional text,” it was emphasized that it requires confidentiality—not because of a lack of transparency but to maintain a positive atmosphere for discussion.
Each participant received a copy of the draft, which is the result of collaborative work.
The draft, it was reiterated, "is not just the product of the discussions in the assembly but draws on a rich process and incorporates all the work done over the years during the various phases of the synodal journey."
Pires also noted that "Special rapporteurs and experts worked hard to carefully listen to what was said and examined the reports from the smaller groups." The contributions of theologians were "significant both for the document and for the forums."
Afternoon discussions in small groups
"This afternoon," Pires said, "participants will gather in their smaller groups for a true exchange of gifts, as Cardinal Grech put it, to 'share challenges, dreams, inner dynamics, and new motivations that emerged from reading the text.' It is a new way of experiencing a retreat, perhaps an unfamiliar one."
Thus, Monday would be devoted to prayer, meditation, and sharing the draft of the final document.
Pires added that the morning session closed with a prayer for Jesuit priest Marcelo Pérez, who was murdered yesterday in Chiapas, Mexico, shortly after celebrating Mass in his parish in Cuxtitali, a neighborhood of San Cristóbal de Las Casas.
Cardinal Zuppi: Dialogue “foundational to the Church itself”
At the briefing, the speakers were Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Father Timothy Peter Joseph Radcliffe, spiritual advisor to the Synod (who will be elevated to cardinal on December 7), Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod, and Monsignor Manuel Nin Güell, apostolic exarch for Byzantine-rite Catholics in Greece.
Cardinal Zuppi reflected on the experience of dialogue throughout the synod, describing it as "not instrumental, but foundational to the Church itself."
He pointed to the tables where participants sit to speak, listen, and encounter each other in a process that, he stressed, is always a spiritual one.
Fr Radcliffe: Final document will contain “images of the Kingdom”
Father Radcliffe reflected on the journey of renewal the Church is currently undertaking, a journey that will emerge in the final document.
He emphasized that the document should not be seen as a place for decisions or headline-grabbing statements.
In the face of society’s disintegration, war, and the difficult times the world is enduring, the Church has a particular vocation: to be a sign of Christ, a sign of peace, and to remain in communion with Christ.
Through this Synod, Fr Radcliffe said, a new way of imagining the Church is emerging, and the final document will present images to display that, much as Jesus used parables to announce the Kingdom.
Sr Becquart: Synodality and ecumenism
Sister Nathalie Becquart, Undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod, shared insights about the fraternal atmosphere among the ecumenical delegates.
She is involved in the Synod’s Commission for Ecumenism. The Synod gives us a new image of being Church, she said, referring to the image of the Pope sitting among participants, listening, and also to the image from the ecumenical prayer service, where participants prayed together, remembering the martyrdom of St. Peter.
This, she said, opened a new phase for ecumenical relations and Christian unity, as this Synod introduces a new way of understanding the exercise of papal primacy and the collegiality of bishops and the entire People of God.
Eastern Catholics in Greece
The Synod is offering an opportunity for deeper understanding, explained Bishop Manuel Nin Güell, Apostolic Exarch for Byzantine Rite Catholics in Greece, who leads a small community that was established about a century ago.
This community formed when many Greek refugees arrived in Athens following the Greco-Turkish War. The Exarchate comprises two parishes: one is the cathedral in Athens, and the other is located about 500 kilometers north, near Thessaloniki, in Yannitsa.
There are seven priests—two Greeks, one Slovak, and one Chaldean.
The three communities of the Exarchate include Greek Catholics, Ukrainian Catholics who arrived about 28 years ago after the fall of Communism in Ukraine (and more recently, due to the war), and Chaldean Catholics, who are Iraqi Christians of the East Syrian tradition.
The Exarchate also operates a Caritas organization that works with Orthodox Christians and Muslims, and it has a foundation for individuals with autism.
Bishop Nin pointed out that the Exarchate in Greece is a sui iuris Church within the Catholic tradition. Not everyone is aware of this, and the Synod has provided an opportunity to become acquainted with the role of Eastern Catholic Churches, which share the same liturgies, theology, spirituality, and canonical disciplines as their Orthodox sister Churches.
Cardinal Fernández’s clarification
On October 21, 2024, Cardinal Fernández, Prefect of the Doctrine of the Faith, emphasized during the Synod's general congregation that the Pope feels the issue of women deacons is not yet ready to be addressed.
However, the discussion on women’s roles in the Church was a key focus of the briefing's concluding session.
Father Radcliffe urged people not to focus solely on ordination but to also consider the higher positions women have held throughout history as Doctors of the Church. If we reduce everything to ordination, he said, we risk slipping into a very clerical mindset.
Sr Becquart reinforced these point, emphasizing that women already hold high-level positions in the Church, such as presidents of Catholic universities, leaders of organizations like Caritas, or heads of sections within Episcopal Conferences.
She explained that there are many ways to promote women’s leadership, and many bishops are now appointing women as general diocesan delegates, giving them a role in governance.
Sr Becquart added that social and cultural obstacles still remain because the Church is part of society. For example, she sauid, when talking to Anglican bishops, it’s often clear that a man’s contributions in church settings are given more weight than a woman’s, even when women have been ordained.
Thus, a true conversion of mentality is needed, and it will take time. We inherit mindsets not just from the Church but from the society in which we live, noted Becquart.
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