The Synod on Synodality will start on  October 4th in the Vatican up to the end of the month. Among the special guests is Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement.

We are on the threshold of the universal stage of the 2021-2024 Synod on Synodality. On Saturday, September 30th 2023, St. Peter’s Square in Rome (Italy) will gather thousands of people from various Christian Churches for the Ecumenical Vigil, “Together – Gathering of the People of God”, promoted by the Taizé Community in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, the Vicariate of Rome, the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. The protagonists of this event will be young people. At the end of this moment of prayer and celebration, the 464 participants in the synodal assembly will move to Sacrofano, near Rome, for a spiritual retreat until  October 3rd. They will return to the Vatican for the solemn opening of the Synod with the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis on Wednesday, October 4th.

Immediately afterwards, the cardinals, bishops, religious and laity who will participate in the Synod will begin their work in the Paul VI Hall. For four weeks, the members will participate in plenary assemblies, minor circles, a pilgrimage and moments of prayer and liturgy until  October 29th.

The President of the Focolare Movement, Margaret Karram, who is among the 9 invited guests, sent a message to all the members of the Movement in the world, expressing what she was thinking about this historic milestone in the Catholic Church: “I cannot hide my feelings from you; above all, my happiness at being able to participate in person in this moment of grace. I am aware that I am taking with me each and every one of you from the Focolare Movement and this is also a great responsibility”.

“I am sure,” she continues, “that many of you have already participated in a stage of the synodal journey in your local churches and have already experienced some of the fruits of the journey. You will have lived them as new opportunities for a dialogue that leads to deeper and broader communion and participation.

(…) In this coming session of the Synod we are called even more to ‘walk together’ as the ‘people of God’, so that this may become a permanent and daily reality in our lives for the good of the Church and of humanity”.

“This has put in my heart,” she says, “a great desire: that we should commit ourselves – as the Focolare Movement – to improve, to go one step further, to strengthen and refine our relationships of unity, and to be builders of fraternity in every environment in which we live or work”.

And she concludes by inviting everyone to accompany “this new and promising season of the Church” with prayer: “Finally, I ask you for the most important thing: to pray! ‘Without prayer there will be no Synod, said Pope Francis, as does the Secretary General, Cardinal Grech, encouraging everyone to pray with faith and seriousness. It means listening to God with the kind of recollection that gives space to Him and allows our hearts and minds to be illuminated by His light. (…) also as part of all the people around the world who are praying and offering , so that the Synod – whose protagonist is the Holy Spirit – may bear the greatest fruit for humanity today and in the future”.

Carlos Mana
Focolare Media Office (Rome)

Source:
www.focolare.org

“Together – Gathering of the People of God” is the ecumenical prayer vigil to be held on 30^th September 2023 in Rome in advance of the Synodal Assembly in October. Damian, a Polish Catholic, and Masha, a Russian Orthodox, are two young people from the Focolare Movement who recently participated in the preparatory meeting for the event, which was followed by a private audience with the Pope.

Praying together gathered under the same “tent”, to discover each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the idea at the heart of the ecumenical prayer vigil that will take place on 30^th September 2023 in St. Peter’s Square. Pope Francis announced the event during the Angelus on 15^th January 2023, to entrust to God the work of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, on the theme of Synodality, which will take place in October 2023.

It will be a genuine gathering of the People of God, which will extend an invitation, as the title given to this occasion indicates (“Together”), to walk together, which is also expressed  by the verse of Isaiah (cf. Is 54, 2) chosen for the occasion: to “widen the space of your tent”. The Taizé Community will lead the vigil, which will be attended by Pope Francis and representatives of various Christian Churches, as well as many realities and organizations. It is open to everyone, especially young people who are invited to attend from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon, and will be welcomed for a weekend of true sharing.

Damian Skłodowski, from Poland, and Masha Iasinskaia, from Russia are two young people from the Focolare Movement who are part of the team that is organizing “Together”. At the meeting held on 12^th-15^th March 2023, they had the opportunity to meet the whole team and to begin the work of preparation.

Masha, how did the meeting go for you?

This preparatory meeting was a very strong experience for me. I was pleasantly impressed to see so many people belonging to different Churches and to various confessions working together. I am Orthodox and, having been part of the Focolare Movement since I was born, I have always lived in an atmosphere in which dialogue between the Churches is normal but I was happy to be surprised on this occasion. I have discovered that many, each in their own reality, feel this need for brotherhood and work hard to achieve this goal in their communities.

Damian, how did you share out the tasks from an organizational point of view?
The “Together” weekend will be a journey made up of several parts. On the morning of 30^th September, there will be itineraries and workshops on various themes in different areas of Rome. This will be followed by a time dedicated to prayer for all the young adults in the city centre and then there will be a procession to St. Peter’s Square. This preparatory meeting was certainly a way to get to know each other, brainstorm a little on the topics and understand how to share the work between us. Masha and I will take care of preparing one of the morning workshops.

Masha, in this context what does the word “Together” say to you?
The first time I felt I was living this “together” fully was in Hungary, during the 2012 GenFest, a gathering of the young people from the Focolare which takes place every 5 years. It’s a different kind of event from the one we are organizing now but I will never forget the mandate that was given to us to be “bridges”. A bridge represents something that unites, which creates a bond between us, between our countries, our churches, our differences and the more united we are the more unshakeable this bridge will be. I think this being “together” is essential, especially for me, for my country. I am lucky because I had the joy of receiving this mandate, but we have to bear witness to it, to truly become bridges and this vigil offers a wonderful occasion.

Damian, what do you think is the starting point for establishing true relationships of communion?
The starting point is to really go to meet others, to put the person at the centre, to get to know each other and ask “how are you?” You have to build that relationship. Yes, it is true, we are different, there are differences between the various Churches, between denominations, between religions but also between people in general. Before finding solutions or giving great speeches, what is important is listening. I, a Catholic and Masha, an Orthodox, are already experiencing this in sharing this work and also during the lunches and dinners of these days of preparation. It was nice to meet the others in such social moments without too many pretensions, with great simplicity. Even when Pope Francis welcomed us in a private audience, he thanked us for our availability and repeatedly used the word “synodality”. This is the path of God’s people: we walk, we open our hearts, our ears to listen, our eyes to see and little by little, we go ahead together.

Maria Grazia Berretta

Synodality may not be a word that trips easily off the tongue of many Christians. Nonetheless the Catholic Church’s synodal process is proving timely for people of many different traditions. On 26 January this year, Anglican theologian and ecumenist, Rev Prof Nicholas Sagovsky, spoke inspiringly about synodality at the Focolare’s annual meeting for Church Leaders from a wide variety of traditions. His topic was: Living as synodal Christians: a fresh approach to Ecumenism.

Nicholas Sagovsky’s thought-provoking talk was scripturally and historically based. It did not shy away from the challenges all Christians face and put into relief how to be in a place of ‘unknowing’ is the right place for the ‘synodal’ Christian. Examples of response to the difficult challenges of synodal living were given by the Brussels-based Catherine Burke and Andreas Amann, the Focolare’s delegates for the zone of Western Europe. They told of the light that can be generated through listening and walking, one step at a time, together on the way.

For the first time since the pandemic, about thirty participants met in person – at the Focolare Centre for Unity Welwyn Garden City, – as well as online. Those online included Nicola Brady, the General Secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, joining from Belfast, and Bishop Joseph Toal, Bishop of Motherwell, online from Scotland.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Scotland, Ireland, and England and Wales were represented online and in person, alongside representatives from the Church of England and the Church of Ireland as well as from the Lutheran, United Reformed and Moravian Churches. This ecumenical mix was enriched by the presence of two officers from the Salvation Army. Bishop Robin Smith, formerly the Bishop of Hertford and a long-standing member of the Focolare’s International Secretariat for Ecumenism, guided everyone through the day. Afterwards he said: “Once again the good Lord surprised us by his presence. It truly was a very special time. Nicholas our speaker was superb; and it was evident, both from the moving contributions and in the discussions outside the formal sessions, that everyone was engaged at a very profound level.”

Source: www.focolare.org/gb