The first week of the Synod of Bishops began on Wednesday, with a Holy Mass presided over by Pope Francis.
During his homily, the Holy Father reminded the participants the Synod was not a parliament, but rather the Holy Spirit was to be the protagonist.
“We are not here to form a parliament but to walk together with the gaze of Jesus, who blesses the Father and welcomes those who are weary and oppressed,” he said.
The Synod’s General Secretary Cardinal Mario Grech and the Relator General, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, then recapitulated the goals, spirit, and method of the three-year synodal process launched by the Pope in 2021.
During the first week, the participants focused on examining and discussing “Module A” of Instrumentum laboris, which focuses specifically on building a Synodal Church and to "help us to make contact with synodality as a comprehensive vision, or rather, as the module title says, with the synodal Church as an integral experience."
Participants were broken up into small groups and on the Friday, finalised their own reports in response to the module. The reports focuses on formation at every level, including priests, seminarians and family. They also focused on the need to involve young people and questions about the role of the laity.
The participants did not have scheduled work for Saturday afternoon or Sunday but will return on Monday morning, immediately after Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, to focus on the theme of communion.