Dear Colleagues,
As you know, at the end of the consultation phase «in the particular Churches»,
The process of the 2021-2024 Synod includes the celebration of Continental Assemblies. With this in mind
At this stage we address 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 for the synodal process under way: there can be no exercise of ecclesial synodality without the exercise of episcopal collegiality. The Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis communio reminds us that «each bishop has simultaneous and inseparable responsibility for the particular Church entrusted to his pastoral care and for the universal Church» (EC, no. 2). Making it possible to exercise this solicitude has been the raison d'être of the Synod of Bishops since its creation. With great foresight, Saint Paul VI stated in the document that established the Synod, Apostolica Sollicitudo, that the Synod, «like all human institutions, can be perfected later». This is what we are experiencing now: Episcopalis communio, far from weakening an episcopal institution,
when it highlights the processual nature of the Synod, makes the role of the Pastors and their participation in the various stages even more crucial. Thank you, then, for all that each of you has done so far in the service of the 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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