In the journey of renewal that she is undertaking according to “Christ’s own mission of love” (Praedicate Evangelium [PE], 2), the Church expresses her being “in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race” (Lumen gentium [LG], 1). She manifests herself with greater clarity and credibility to the world in the different cultures as a mystery of missionary communion (cf. LG, 7), the one Body, sharing in His Spirit that renews her and guides her in the proclamation of the Gospel to all nations (cf. LG, 17).

In this light, in the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, Praedicate Evangelium, I stressed that a “life of communion makes the Church synodal” (PE, 4). In particular, reciprocal listening and the dynamic of reciprocity in placing oneself at the service of the mission of the People of God qualify the work of assisting the Roman Curia in the ministry of the Bishop of Rome, the individual Bishops and the College of Bishops. The pastoral competencies it performs find their purpose and effectiveness in the service to episcopal collegiality and ecclesial communion in union with and under the guidance of the Bishop of Rome (cf. PE, 8-9).

The task of the General Secretariat of the Synod is situated in this context (cf. Episcopalis communio [EC], 9). Directly subordinate to the Bishop of Rome as Pastor of the universal Church and at the same time distinct from the Roman Curia as a “permanent institution at the service of the Synod of Bishops” (EC, art. 22 § 1), it supports and accompanies the synodal process established from time to time (cf. EC, art. 23 § 1). In this way it specifically helps to promote in a synodal spirit the mutual relations of the Bishops and of the particular Churches over which they preside, among themselves and in communion with the Bishop of Rome in the one and catholic Church (cf. LG, 23).

I therefore dispose that, according to the provisions of Art. 33 of Praedicate Evangelium, the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia shall cooperate, “according to their respective specific competencies, in the work of the General Secretariat of the Synod”, by setting up study groups that will initiate, with a synodal method, the in-depth study of some of the themes that emerged in the First Session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. These study groups are to be established by mutual agreement between the competent Dicasteries of the Roman Curia and the General Secretariat of the Synod, which is entrusted with coordination.

From the Vatican, 16 February 2024

FRANCIS

________________________________

L'Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, Fifty-seventh year, number 8, Friday 23 February 2024, p. 3.