"The wording of the Instrumentum laboris goes through the entire first phase of listening in the particular Churches and the subsequent discernment in the national Bishops' Conferences and in the seven continental assemblies". This is what Dario Vitali, member of the Preparatory Commission of the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, affirms.
In this interview with Omnes, Vitali explains that the working paper for the first session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops dedicated to synodality, which will be held from October 4 to 29, will be in essence the result of the consultation of the entire People of God that took place at the first phase.
The priest, who teaches dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and consultant to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for the Clergy, emphasizes that it was not just any kind of listening, but "a capillary listening, which did not exclude anyone".
What has emerged from this listening?
-There is a unity in the synodal process that makes it possible to show how all the interventions, all the contributions of the particular Churches, all the syntheses of the Episcopal Conferences and all the seven documents of the Synod of Bishops' Conferences, and the seven documents of the Synod of Bishops' Conferences, all of which are Continental Assemblies are the result of the same way of working.
A listening that started from the People of God and then developed through what has been defined as conversation in the Holy Spirit. What does all this produce? It produces a process of growth in consensus that starts from the listening of all.
And what do the seven documents of the Continental Assemblies show?
-First of all, they emphasize the beauty of this experience. Those who have participated affirm that it is an ecclesial experience that is worth living and also worth repeating because it allows participation and builds mission and communities.
All the syntheses of the Continental Assemblies emphasize the Synodal Church and what can be changed in it, both in terms of mentality and structures.
Another aspect that emerges from the syntheses of the Continental Assemblies is the fact that synodality is not only a theoretical aspect......
-We have often heard synodality spoken of in theoretical terms that we then try to convert into praxis. In reality, it is a matter of inverting the approach to show how it is precisely from the truly synodal experience of sharing that synodality can be understood in depth.
What is the spirit in which the Instrumentum laboris will be drafted?
-Obviously, the spirit will be respectfully synodal.
Recognition of the elements that create the most consensus will become the focal point of the Instrumentum laborisThe synodal method itself foresees confrontation in the light of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of peace, of order and not of disorder.
