On the sidelines of the Synod press briefing on October 3, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, in the US state of Texas, shares his thoughts on the work of the second session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod on Synodality.
Pope Francis has called for a day of prayer and fasting for on the 7th October, the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
“In this dramatic hour of our history,” the Pope said, “while the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to devastate entire peoples and nations,” the Christian community is reminded of its call to “put itself at the service of humanity”.
The Pope was speaking after Mass in St Peter’s Square for the opening of the second session of the General Assembly of the Synod. He invited all the synod members to accompany him on a visit to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major on October 6th, the day before the anniversary, where, he said, he will “address a heartfelt petition to the Virgin” for peace.
“Let us walk together,” the Pope urged. “Let us listen to the Lord. And let us be led by the breeze of the Spirit.”
Days of fasting and prayer for warzones have been a constant throughout the pontificate of Pope Francis. Not six months after his election, on 7th September 2013, the Pope gathered thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square to pray for peace in Syria.
In 2017, he called for prayer and fasting in DRC and South Sudan. In 2020, in the wake of the Beirut Port blast, he urged the same for Lebanon. In 2021, he called for prayer and fasting in Afghanistan, and the next year, in a moving ceremony in St Peter’s, he consecrated Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Synod 2024 - 1st General Congregation
From the Paul VI Hall, 1st General Congregation on the occasion of the XVI General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
During Mass for the opening of the Synod, the Pope stresses the importance of true dialogue.
“I hope each of us will offer our contribution as a gift to be shared,” he said, “ready even to sacrifice our own point of view in order to give life to something new, all according to God’s plan. Otherwise we will end up locking ourselves into dialogues among the deaf, where participants seek to advance their own causes or agendas without listening to others and, above all, without listening to the voice of the Lord.“
Pope Francis presides over Mass for the opening of the Second Session of the 16th General Assembly of the Synod, the ‘Synod on Synodality’.
In his homily, the Pope emphasised the need for hearts to be “open for dialogue”.
Pope Francis leads a penitential vigil at St. Peter’s Basilica, marking the end of the preparatory retreat for the Synod. Seven cardinals presented requests on behalf of the Church for forgiveness for sins including various forms of abuse, indifference towards migrants, offenses against peace, women, and indigenous communities, as well as for using doctrine as a weapon, and for failing to listen. The vigil included moving testimonies from three survivors: one of abuse by a priest, one of a dangerous sea crossing, and one of the war in Syria.
As Iran launched an air raid on Israel on Tuesday evening, Fr. Ibrahim Faltas, Vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land, asks Vatican News for prayers.
"Already at 5 PM, we had received the order not to open the schools tomorrow," he said. “Then around 7 PM, with all the friars from Jerusalem, we were in the Church of the Holy Saviour for Vespers during the triduum for the feast of St. Francis when the sirens began to sound, and we heard loud explosions. We rushed outside and saw the bright trails, both of the rockets intercepted by the Iron Dome and – most of them – flying over Jerusalem, aiming south at the military bases in the Negev. Shortly after, a second wave. Now there is a spectral silence over the entire city. People are very afraid; there is a fear that it may happen again if Israel responds. It will be a night of anxiety, and for us, of intense prayer. Please pray for us and for all the innocents suffering from this senseless war."
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Pope’s October prayer intention: ‘For a shared mission’
“Let us pray that the Church continue to sustain a synodal lifestyle in every way, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, communion, and mission shared by priests, religious, and laity.”
Pope Francis invites us to pray “for a shared mission” during October, as the second session of the Synod on synodality is held in the Vatican.
Pope's October prayer intention: 'For a shared mission'
"Let us pray that the Church continue to sustain a synodal lifestyle in every way, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, communion, and mission shared by priests, religious, and laity."
Pope Francis invites us to pray "for a shared mission" during October, as the second session of the Synod on synodality is held in the Vatican.
Highlights of Pope Francis’ 4-day Apostolic Journey to Luxembourg and Belgium.
Pope Francis bids farewell to Belgium as he boards the papal plane back to Rome at the end of his Apostolic Journey to Luxembourg and Belgium.
Joseph Tulloch, our colleague in Brussels, reports from King Baudouin Stadium as Pope Francis celebrates Mass with around 40,000 people.
“In the Church, there is room for everyone, everyone, everyone, but we will all be judged, and there is no place for abuse, no place for covering up abuse. I ask everyone: do not cover up abuses!”
Pope Francis made that forceful appeal in his homily at Mass in Brussels on Sunday.
Highlights of the Pope’s second day in Belgium.
It was a busy one. The first item on the Pope’s official schedule was a meeting with clergy and pastoral workers in Koekelberg’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart – but before that even got started, he had two unscheduled encounters, the first with a handful of EU officials, and the second with a group of homeless people in the Church of Saint Giles.
Then, that afternoon, the Pope held a public dialogue with students at the Catholic University of Louvain, met privately with Belgium’s Jesuit community, and, in the evening, paid a surprise visit to the 6,000 young people gathered at the Brussels Expo in preparation for the papal Mass the following morning.
