Dear Brothers,
As you know, at the end of the consultation phase «in the particular Churches»,
the Synod 2021-2024 process includes the celebration of Continental Assemblies. With this in mind
At this point, we turn to all of you who, in your particular Churches, are the principle and foundation of the unity of God's holy people (cf. LG 23). We do so in the name of our common responsibility as bishops of the Church of Christ towards the synodal process underway: there can be no exercise of ecclesial synodality without the exercise of episcopal collegiality. The Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis communio reminds us that «each bishop possesses simultaneously and inseparably the responsibility for the particular Church entrusted to his pastoral oins and for the universal Church» (EC, no. 2). Enabling the exercise of this solicitude has been the raison d'être of the Synod of Bishops since its inception. With great foresight, Saint Paul VI affirmed in the document that established the Synod, the Apostolica Sollicitudo, that the Synod, «like all human institutions, can be perfected over time». This is what we are experiencing today: Episcopalis communio, far from weakening an episcopal institution,
when it highlights the processual nature of the Synod, makes the role of Pastors and their participation in the various stages even more crucial. Thank you, then, for all that each of you has done to date in the service of Synod 2021-2024, making possible the consultation of the People of God in the particular Churches and discernment in the Synods/Councils of the Churches sui iuris and in the Bishops' Conferences...
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