The next Synod of Bishops will be inaugurated by Pope Francis in the Vatican on 9 and 10 October, will take place in three phases between October 2021 and October 2023 and will take place both in the Vatican and in each diocese. This was made known today by the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.

Pope Francis, on 24 April 2021, approved a new synodal itinerary for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, initially scheduled for October 2022, on the theme: “For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission”. The General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, with the assent of the Ordinary Council, has proposed the new methods for the journey towards the assembly.

The path for the celebration of the Synod, which will open in the dioceses on Sunday 17 October, under the presidency of the respective bishop, will be divided into three phases, between October 2021 and October 2023, passing through a diocesan phase and a continental, which will give life to two different Instrumentum Laboris, up to the final one at the level of the Universal Church.

The Synod of Bishops "is the point of convergence of the dynamism of mutual listening in the Holy Spirit, conducted at all levels of the life of the Church", as Pope Francis recalled in his speech to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the institution of the Synod of the Bishops, on 17 October 2015. "The articulation of the different phases of the synod process will thus make it possible to truly listen to the People of God and guarantee the participation of all in the synod process", underlines the Synod of Bishops:

“It is not just an event, but a process that involves in synergy the People of God, the Episcopal College and the Bishop of Rome, each according to their own function”.