BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Benedict XVI:
The Synodal Pope
by Giorgio Bernardelli
Translated from

Sept, 19, 2009


In 2010, there will be a Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Bishops' Synod. Benedict XVI also gave the dates and the theme for the special assembly when he formally announced yesterday that he was calling it, to the assembled patriarchs and major archbishops of the Catholic Oriental-rite Churches in the Middle East.

Oct. 10-24, 2010, on the theme "The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and testimony", with the Biblical epigram, "The community of believers was of one heart and mind" (Acts 4,32).

It is a major event in the life of the Church which immediately merits the following distinctions:

1. The announcement came on the eve of the coming Special Assembly for Africa to take place October 4-25, with the new assembly for the Middle East to take place one year later.

If one considers that the next triennial General Assembly of the Bishops' Synod will be held in 2011, after the General Assembly on the Word of God held last year, it appears that under Benedict XVI, a synodal assembly would be an annual event.

It is an important innovation of Benedict XVI's Pontificate, which must be coupled to the procedural innovations he introduced to the General Assembly of 2005 on the Eucharist (the first Synodal assembly in his Pontificate).

It must also be remembered that special assemblies do not involve only the region or continent about whom they are called, but constitute an event for the universal Church (and that is why they are held at the Vatican).

In calling a Synodal assembly every year, Benedict XVI most clearly demonstrates his vision of collegiality in the Church. [In his address to the Middle Eastern patriarchs yesterday, he referred to the concept of synodality "so dear to Oriental ecclesiology and welcomed with appreciation by the Second Vatican Council".]


2. This will be the first Synodal assembly on the Middle East. In 1991, John Paul II called a special assembly for Lebanon, but that was linked to a specific situation, namely, the problems of Lebanon's significant Christian population during the prolonged civil war in the Land of the Cedars.

This time, the Synodal assembly is a true and proper exercise of 'ecclesial geopolitics' - in which the Middle East is treated as a distinct ecclesial district with its own importance and meriting its own special attention. In a way, it becomes the 'sixth continent' for the Church.

Benedict XVI said he was also responding to a request by the area bishops who face challenges unlike those in any other region of the world.

It is significant that the bishop who actually proposed a Synodal assembly for the Middle East was Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk in Iraq, perhaps the country whose Christian community is most threatened.


3. The Pope has chosen the theme of the Synodal meeting: "The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and testimony" - "The community of believers was of one heart and mind" (Acts 4,32).

The title itself gives an important indication in its coupling of communion and testimony.

Christian witness is obviously paramount in the Middle Eastern countries with their overwhelming Muslim populations, and the related problem that many Christians have been forced to emigrate.

But there is also 'communion' which refers to another open nerve in the Christian presence in the Middle East. Middle Eastern Christians are unusually diverse in their rites and confessions, which means that coexistence among them is not devoid of problems.

So Benedict XVI said that the Synodal assembly for the Middle East should be a great experience of unity. Only in union and communion can the Christians of the Middle East be truly witnesses for the hope and peace that come from living the Gospel.

To find out more about this diversity of Christian communities in the Middle East, we can refer to previous reports from the magazine Mondo e Missione reporting on the Christians of Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.



Organizational work begins Monday
for the Synodal meeting on the Mideast
Translated from
the 9/20/09 issue of



Barely 48 hours after Benedict XVI announced the special assembly of the Bishops' Synod to be held next year, the pre-Synodal council will meet for the first time Monday at the seat of the Synod's General Secretariat in Palazzo Bramante on the Via della Conciliazione.

"There will be two days of work, on Monday, Sept, 21, and Tuesday, Sept. 22, to put together the organizational machinery that must begin full steam ahead because we have little time," said Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary-general of the Synod.

Taking part in the Council are Cardinals Ivan Dias (prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of epoples), Walter Kasper (president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity), Jean-Louis Tauran (president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialog) and Leonardo Sandri (prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches), along with the Patriarchs Narallah Pierre Sfeir (Maronite), Emannuel II Delly (Chaldean), Antonio Naguib (Coptic), Gregorios II Laham (Greek Melkite), Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni (Armenian Catholic), and Fouad Twal (Jerusalem Latin Patriarchate). Patriarch Ignace Youssif III Younan (Syriac) designated Mons. Jules Mikhael Al-Jamil to represent him

Also part of the pre-Synodal council, said Mons. Eterovic, are Arcbishop Ramzi Garmou, president of the Iranian bishops' conference; Bishop Luigi Padovese, president of the Turkish bishops conference; along with some consultant experts. He said more names could be added, as these were the ones that could be available at such short notice.

Eterovic also said that the announcement of a special Synodal assembly was not, in itself, a surprise, since the pastors of the region have been urging it for years. He said the decisive push came after Benedict XVI's pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

The agenda for the organizational meeting will consider "the Pope's suggestions on dialog towards peaceful coexistence in a tormented region, bearing in mind the specific realities in the individual nations".

Eterovic said "The theme for the Synodal assembly was chosen by the Pope himself, after looking through the recommendations we made based on consultations with the bishops of the region".

He said the citation from the Acts of the Apostles is "a reminder that the Middle East is particularly dear to all Christians because the Church was born there, and despite historical developments, it is still present there, with great difficulty but also with hope."

The assembly will take place in the Vatican's Synod Hall (within Aula Paolo VI). It's too early, said Eterovic, to be able to state the number and identities of the participatns, as criteria still have to be set. He did say that there will certainly be ecumenical representatives invited as fraternal delegates.

"Particularly important is how Muslims and Jews can be involved," he said. "We have yet to spell out the modality, but it is obvious that the assembly has to consider the total reality in the Middle East. The Synodal aseembly is a space of open dialog aimed at communion and peace, in justice and in truth. We will find the right way to hear the voices of the Jewish and Muslim worlds".

In fact, he said, dialog and confrontation "with other religions and culture" will be one of the central themes of the assembly "which must start from an internal reflection of the Church on how to strengthen ecclesial communion. This is the Pope's first mandate."

"The diversity of rites and traditions in the Church is a treasure, not an obstacle, and it must be shared. Renewed authentic communion among all Catholics will give rise to strong witness even where the communities are small. Communion makes them more credible".

As for more specific topics, Eterovic said these will be spelled out in the Lineamenta, or guidelines for the assembly.

"I am sure there will be something on reconciliation, following the words and example of the Holy Father when he was in the Holy Land - he opened new horizons in the complex and demanding journey to peace, while respecting the rights of everyone and acknowledging the corresponding responsibilities."

Eterovic believes that the Lineamenta will be ready before the end of the year. "It will be brief, because we have little time to prepare, but we want the communities to have time to discuss it".

The Instrumentum laboris, which will be the working agenda, will be ready by Easter, he said.

"This Synod, which is regional, is exceptional. There are no precedents for it, although there have been two specific assemblies before addressed to the problems of a single nation - the Netherlands and Lebanon, respectively.