A synod summary from the Polish synod fathers – Oct 24

Vatican City, Oct 24, 2018 / 10:00 am

The synod of bishops on young people, the faith, and vocational discernment is being held at the Vatican Oct. 3-28.

CNA plans to provide a brief regular summary of the sessions, provided by the synodal fathers from Poland.

Please find below the Polish fathers' summary of the Oct. 24 session:

The morning session on October 24th began with the organization of the bishops' pilgrimage ad Petri Sedem, which will take place tomorrow morning. The second topic was the draft of the Letter of Synod Fathers to the Youth of the World. Thirdly, the rules for the election of the members of the Council's Secretariat, 21 from each continent, were discussed.

"Ordinaries and prelates with the same rights as ordinaires may be elected members of the Council's Secretariat, whereas the auxiliary bishops may only make vote but not be elected. The Council's Secretariat meets once or twice a year to prepare a prolongation of the text that the Holy Father will probably publish as an apostolic exhortation," said Archbishop Stanisław Gadecki, President of the Polish Bishops' Conference.

During the deliberations, further amendments to the final document were submitted.

"The opinion prevails that the text of the final document is much better than the instrumentum laboris. The fact of reading the two documents together was also questioned. The additions to the final text concerned, among other things, catechesis, some attention was also devoted to catechists," said Archbishop Gądecki.

Many spoke out evoking the spirituality of the young; there were practical tips, such as the creation of a breviary intended only for young people.

"There was also an interesting theological intervention which noted that accompaniment is not a pedagogical strategy, but a theological fact that stems from the Incarnation. Jesus becomes a man's, a Christian's companion on his path, firstly by accepting the human body and the fate of man," the Polish episcopate's president reported.

It was also pointed out that part of the crisis among young people is caused by social and political conditions, and that it is not only the fault of the Church.