Pope Francis Opens the Synod Invoking the Holy Spirit and says "The Holy Spirit is the origin of harmony between the Churches." FULL TEXT + Video
.png)
OPENING OF THE XVI ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
“FOR A SYNODAL CHURCH: COMMUNION, PARTICIPATION AND MISSION”
SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
“FOR A SYNODAL CHURCH: COMMUNION, PARTICIPATION AND MISSION”
SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
Pope Francise addressed the Opening of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod on Synodality, which opened today in the Vatican.
The 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will be held in two moments, that is, in two sessions, spaced one year apart: the first from October 4 to 29, 2023, the second in October 2024.in Paul VI Hall on Wednesday, October 4, 2023
_______________________________________________
FULL TEXT of Pope Francis - Brothers and sisters, good afternoon!
I greet all of you, with whom we begin this synodal journey.
I like to remember that it was Saint Paul VI who said that the Church in the West had lost the idea of synodality, and for this reason he had created the secretariat for the Synod of Bishops, which held many meetings, many Synods on different themes.
But the expression of synodality is not yet mature. I remember that I was secretary in one of these Synods, and the Cardinal Secretary – a good Belgian missionary, good good – when I was preparing for the votes he would come and look: “What are you doing?” – “What must be voted on tomorrow” – “What is it? No, this cannot be voted on” – “But listen, it is synodal” – “No, no, this cannot be voted on”. Because we still didn't have the habit that everyone must express themselves freely. And so, slowly, over these almost 60 years, the journey has gone in this direction, and today we can arrive at this Synod on synodality.
It's not easy, but it's nice, it's very nice. A Synod that all the bishops of the world wanted. In the survey that was done after the Synod for the Amazon, among all the bishops of the world, the second place of preferences was this: synodality. The first was the priests, the third I believe was a social issue. But [this was] to the second. All the bishops of the world saw the need to reflect on synodality. Why? Because everyone understood that the fruit was ripe for something like this.
And in this spirit we begin to work today. And I like to say that the Synod is not a parliament, it is something else; that the Synod is not a meeting of friends to resolve some current issues or give opinions, it is something else. Let us not forget, brothers and sisters, that the protagonist of the Synod is not us: it is the Holy Spirit. And if there is the Spirit among us to guide us, it will be a beautiful Synod. If among us there are other ways of moving forward for human, personal, ideological interests, it will not be a Synod, it will be a more parliamentary meeting, which is another thing. Synod is a journey that the Holy Spirit takes. Some sheets of paper with patristic texts have been given to you which will help us in the opening of the Synod. They are taken from St. Basil, who wrote that beautiful treatise on the Holy Spirit. Why? Because we need to understand this reality which is not easy, it is not easy.
When, on the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Synod, the theologians prepared a letter for me that I signed, it was a good step forward. But now we must find the explanation along that path. The protagonists of the Synod are not us, it is the Holy Spirit, and if we leave room for the Holy Spirit, the Synod will go well. These sheets on Saint Basil have been given to you in different languages: English, French, Portuguese and Spanish, so you have this in your hands. I do not mention these texts, on which I ask you to reflect and meditate.
The Holy Spirit is the protagonist of ecclesial life: the plan of salvation for men is fulfilled by the grace of the Spirit. He is the one who takes the lead. If we do not understand this, we will be like those spoken of in the Acts of the Apostles: "Have you received the Holy Spirit?" – “What is the Holy Spirit? We haven't even heard of it" (see 19:1-2). We must understand that He is the protagonist of the life of the Church, the One who carries it forward.
The Holy Spirit triggers a profound and varied dynamism in the ecclesial community: the "hustle" of Pentecost. It's curious what happens at Pentecost: everything was well arranged, everything was clear... That morning there's a commotion, all languages are spoken, everyone understood... But it's a variety that you don't fully understand what it means... And after this, the great work of the Holy Spirit: not unity, no, harmony. He unites us in harmony, the harmony of all differences. If there is no harmony, there is no Spirit: it is He who does this.
Then, the third text that can help: the Holy Spirit is the harmonious composer of the history of salvation. Harmony - let's be careful - does not mean "synthesis", but "bond of communion between dissimilar parts". If we in this Synod end up with a declaration that all are the same, all the same, without nuances, the Spirit is not there, it has remained outside. He creates that harmony which is not synthesis, it is a bond of communion between dissimilar parts.
The Church, a single harmony of voices, in many voices, brought about by the Holy Spirit: this is how we must conceive the Church. Every Christian community, every person has their own peculiarity, but these particularities must be included in the symphony of the Church and the right symphony is created by the Spirit: we cannot do it. We are not a parliament, we are not the United Nations, no, it is something else.
The Holy Spirit is the origin of harmony between the Churches. It is interesting what Basil says to the brother bishops: "Just as we consider your mutual harmony and unity to be our good, so we also invite you to share in our sufferings caused by divisions and not to separate ourselves from you because we are distant for reasons of location and places, but, since we are united in communion according to the Spirit, to welcome each other into the harmony of one body".
The Holy Spirit leads us by the hand and consoles us. The presence of the Spirit is thus – allow me the word – almost maternal, like a mother leads us, gives us this consolation. It is the Comforter, one of the names of the Spirit: the Comforter. The consoling action of the Holy Spirit depicted by the innkeeper to whom the man who has fallen into the hands of bandits is entrusted (see Luke 10.34-35): Basil interprets that parable of the Good Samaritan and in the innkeeper he sees the Holy Spirit who allows the one man's good will and another's sin go on a harmonious path.
Furthermore, the One who guards the Church is the Holy Spirit. Then, the Holy Spirit has a multifaceted paracletic exercise. We must learn to listen to the voices of the Spirit: they are all different. Learn to discern.
And then, the Spirit is the One who makes the Church: it is He who makes the Church. There is a very important connection between the Word and the Spirit. We can think about this: the Word and the Spirit. The Scripture, the Liturgy, the ancient tradition speak to us of the "sadness" of the Holy Spirit, and one of the things that saddens the Holy Spirit most are empty words. Empty words, worldly words and – going a bit down to a certain human but not good habit – chatter. Chattering is the anti-Holy Spirit, it goes against. It is a very frequent disease among us. And empty words grieve the Holy Spirit. “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were marked” (see Eph 4:30). What a great evil it is to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, need I say? Chattering, backbiting: this grieves the Holy Spirit. It is the most common disease in the Church, chatter. And if we do not let Him heal us from this disease, a synodal path will hardly be good. At least in here: if you don't agree with what that bishop or that nun or that layman over there says, say it to his face. This is why it is a Synod. To tell the truth, not the chatter under the table.
The Holy Spirit confirms us in faith. He's the one who does it all the time...
Read these texts by Basil, they are in your language, because I believe they will help us make room in our hearts for the Spirit. I repeat: it is not a parliament, it is not a meeting for the pastoral care of the Church. This is a syn-odos, walking together is the program. We have done many things, as your Eminence said about him: consultation, all this, with the people of God. But whoever takes this into his own hands, whoever guides is the Holy Spirit. If He is not there, this will not give a good result.
I insist on this: please do not grieve the Spirit. And in our theology make room for the Holy Spirit. And also in this Synod, discern the voices of the Spirit from those that are not of the Spirit, which are worldly. In my opinion, the ugliest disease that today - always, but also today - is seen in the Church is what goes against the Spirit, that is, spiritual worldliness. A spirit, but not a saint: of worldliness. Be careful of this: let's not take the place of the Holy Spirit with worldly things - even good ones - like common sense: this helps, but the Spirit goes further. We must learn to live in our Church with the Holy Spirit. Please, reflect on these texts by Saint Basil which will help us a lot.
Then, I want to say that in this Synod - also to make room for the Holy Spirit - there is the priority of listening, there is this priority. And we must give a message to the press operators, to the journalists, who do a very good, very good job. We must give a communication that is the reflection of this life in the Holy Spirit. It takes an asceticism - excuse me if I speak like this to journalists - a certain fasting of the public word to safeguard this. And what is published must be in this climate. Some will say – they are saying it – that the bishops are afraid and that is why they don't want journalists to say it. No, the work of journalists is very important. But we must help them to say this, this going in the Spirit. And more than the priority of speaking, there is the priority of listening. And I ask journalists to please make people understand this, so that they know that the priority is listening. When there was the Synod on the family, there was public opinion, formed by our worldly world, that it was to give communion to divorced people: and so we entered the Synod. When the Synod for the Amazon took place, there was public opinion, pressure, whether it was to do the viri probati: we entered with this pressure. Now there are some hypotheses about this Synod: "what will they do?", "maybe the priesthood for women"..., I don't know, these things that they say outside. And they say many times that the bishops are afraid to communicate what is happening. This is why I ask you, communicators, to carry out your role well, correctly, so that the Church and people of good will - the others will say what they want - understand that the Church also has the priority of listening. Passing this on: it's so important.
Thank you for helping all of us in this "pause" of the Church. The Church stopped, as the Apostles stopped after Good Friday, that Holy Saturday, closed, but those out of fear, not us. But she is still. It is a pause for the whole Church, listening. This is the most important message. Thank you for your work, thank you for what you do. And I recommend, if you can, read these things by Saint Basil, which help a lot. Thank you.
_______________________________________________
FULL TEXT of Pope Francis - Brothers and sisters, good afternoon!
I greet all of you, with whom we begin this synodal journey.
I like to remember that it was Saint Paul VI who said that the Church in the West had lost the idea of synodality, and for this reason he had created the secretariat for the Synod of Bishops, which held many meetings, many Synods on different themes.
But the expression of synodality is not yet mature. I remember that I was secretary in one of these Synods, and the Cardinal Secretary – a good Belgian missionary, good good – when I was preparing for the votes he would come and look: “What are you doing?” – “What must be voted on tomorrow” – “What is it? No, this cannot be voted on” – “But listen, it is synodal” – “No, no, this cannot be voted on”. Because we still didn't have the habit that everyone must express themselves freely. And so, slowly, over these almost 60 years, the journey has gone in this direction, and today we can arrive at this Synod on synodality.
It's not easy, but it's nice, it's very nice. A Synod that all the bishops of the world wanted. In the survey that was done after the Synod for the Amazon, among all the bishops of the world, the second place of preferences was this: synodality. The first was the priests, the third I believe was a social issue. But [this was] to the second. All the bishops of the world saw the need to reflect on synodality. Why? Because everyone understood that the fruit was ripe for something like this.
And in this spirit we begin to work today. And I like to say that the Synod is not a parliament, it is something else; that the Synod is not a meeting of friends to resolve some current issues or give opinions, it is something else. Let us not forget, brothers and sisters, that the protagonist of the Synod is not us: it is the Holy Spirit. And if there is the Spirit among us to guide us, it will be a beautiful Synod. If among us there are other ways of moving forward for human, personal, ideological interests, it will not be a Synod, it will be a more parliamentary meeting, which is another thing. Synod is a journey that the Holy Spirit takes. Some sheets of paper with patristic texts have been given to you which will help us in the opening of the Synod. They are taken from St. Basil, who wrote that beautiful treatise on the Holy Spirit. Why? Because we need to understand this reality which is not easy, it is not easy.
When, on the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Synod, the theologians prepared a letter for me that I signed, it was a good step forward. But now we must find the explanation along that path. The protagonists of the Synod are not us, it is the Holy Spirit, and if we leave room for the Holy Spirit, the Synod will go well. These sheets on Saint Basil have been given to you in different languages: English, French, Portuguese and Spanish, so you have this in your hands. I do not mention these texts, on which I ask you to reflect and meditate.
The Holy Spirit is the protagonist of ecclesial life: the plan of salvation for men is fulfilled by the grace of the Spirit. He is the one who takes the lead. If we do not understand this, we will be like those spoken of in the Acts of the Apostles: "Have you received the Holy Spirit?" – “What is the Holy Spirit? We haven't even heard of it" (see 19:1-2). We must understand that He is the protagonist of the life of the Church, the One who carries it forward.
The Holy Spirit triggers a profound and varied dynamism in the ecclesial community: the "hustle" of Pentecost. It's curious what happens at Pentecost: everything was well arranged, everything was clear... That morning there's a commotion, all languages are spoken, everyone understood... But it's a variety that you don't fully understand what it means... And after this, the great work of the Holy Spirit: not unity, no, harmony. He unites us in harmony, the harmony of all differences. If there is no harmony, there is no Spirit: it is He who does this.
Then, the third text that can help: the Holy Spirit is the harmonious composer of the history of salvation. Harmony - let's be careful - does not mean "synthesis", but "bond of communion between dissimilar parts". If we in this Synod end up with a declaration that all are the same, all the same, without nuances, the Spirit is not there, it has remained outside. He creates that harmony which is not synthesis, it is a bond of communion between dissimilar parts.
The Church, a single harmony of voices, in many voices, brought about by the Holy Spirit: this is how we must conceive the Church. Every Christian community, every person has their own peculiarity, but these particularities must be included in the symphony of the Church and the right symphony is created by the Spirit: we cannot do it. We are not a parliament, we are not the United Nations, no, it is something else.
The Holy Spirit is the origin of harmony between the Churches. It is interesting what Basil says to the brother bishops: "Just as we consider your mutual harmony and unity to be our good, so we also invite you to share in our sufferings caused by divisions and not to separate ourselves from you because we are distant for reasons of location and places, but, since we are united in communion according to the Spirit, to welcome each other into the harmony of one body".
The Holy Spirit leads us by the hand and consoles us. The presence of the Spirit is thus – allow me the word – almost maternal, like a mother leads us, gives us this consolation. It is the Comforter, one of the names of the Spirit: the Comforter. The consoling action of the Holy Spirit depicted by the innkeeper to whom the man who has fallen into the hands of bandits is entrusted (see Luke 10.34-35): Basil interprets that parable of the Good Samaritan and in the innkeeper he sees the Holy Spirit who allows the one man's good will and another's sin go on a harmonious path.
Furthermore, the One who guards the Church is the Holy Spirit. Then, the Holy Spirit has a multifaceted paracletic exercise. We must learn to listen to the voices of the Spirit: they are all different. Learn to discern.
And then, the Spirit is the One who makes the Church: it is He who makes the Church. There is a very important connection between the Word and the Spirit. We can think about this: the Word and the Spirit. The Scripture, the Liturgy, the ancient tradition speak to us of the "sadness" of the Holy Spirit, and one of the things that saddens the Holy Spirit most are empty words. Empty words, worldly words and – going a bit down to a certain human but not good habit – chatter. Chattering is the anti-Holy Spirit, it goes against. It is a very frequent disease among us. And empty words grieve the Holy Spirit. “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were marked” (see Eph 4:30). What a great evil it is to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, need I say? Chattering, backbiting: this grieves the Holy Spirit. It is the most common disease in the Church, chatter. And if we do not let Him heal us from this disease, a synodal path will hardly be good. At least in here: if you don't agree with what that bishop or that nun or that layman over there says, say it to his face. This is why it is a Synod. To tell the truth, not the chatter under the table.
The Holy Spirit confirms us in faith. He's the one who does it all the time...
Read these texts by Basil, they are in your language, because I believe they will help us make room in our hearts for the Spirit. I repeat: it is not a parliament, it is not a meeting for the pastoral care of the Church. This is a syn-odos, walking together is the program. We have done many things, as your Eminence said about him: consultation, all this, with the people of God. But whoever takes this into his own hands, whoever guides is the Holy Spirit. If He is not there, this will not give a good result.
I insist on this: please do not grieve the Spirit. And in our theology make room for the Holy Spirit. And also in this Synod, discern the voices of the Spirit from those that are not of the Spirit, which are worldly. In my opinion, the ugliest disease that today - always, but also today - is seen in the Church is what goes against the Spirit, that is, spiritual worldliness. A spirit, but not a saint: of worldliness. Be careful of this: let's not take the place of the Holy Spirit with worldly things - even good ones - like common sense: this helps, but the Spirit goes further. We must learn to live in our Church with the Holy Spirit. Please, reflect on these texts by Saint Basil which will help us a lot.
Then, I want to say that in this Synod - also to make room for the Holy Spirit - there is the priority of listening, there is this priority. And we must give a message to the press operators, to the journalists, who do a very good, very good job. We must give a communication that is the reflection of this life in the Holy Spirit. It takes an asceticism - excuse me if I speak like this to journalists - a certain fasting of the public word to safeguard this. And what is published must be in this climate. Some will say – they are saying it – that the bishops are afraid and that is why they don't want journalists to say it. No, the work of journalists is very important. But we must help them to say this, this going in the Spirit. And more than the priority of speaking, there is the priority of listening. And I ask journalists to please make people understand this, so that they know that the priority is listening. When there was the Synod on the family, there was public opinion, formed by our worldly world, that it was to give communion to divorced people: and so we entered the Synod. When the Synod for the Amazon took place, there was public opinion, pressure, whether it was to do the viri probati: we entered with this pressure. Now there are some hypotheses about this Synod: "what will they do?", "maybe the priesthood for women"..., I don't know, these things that they say outside. And they say many times that the bishops are afraid to communicate what is happening. This is why I ask you, communicators, to carry out your role well, correctly, so that the Church and people of good will - the others will say what they want - understand that the Church also has the priority of listening. Passing this on: it's so important.
Thank you for helping all of us in this "pause" of the Church. The Church stopped, as the Apostles stopped after Good Friday, that Holy Saturday, closed, but those out of fear, not us. But she is still. It is a pause for the whole Church, listening. This is the most important message. Thank you for your work, thank you for what you do. And I recommend, if you can, read these things by Saint Basil, which help a lot. Thank you.
Comments