Members of the Synod

Pope picks Archbishop Costelloe for key Synod of Bishops role

Archbishop Costelloe, who is president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and has served on the Synod of Bishops’ preparatory commission, was one of hundreds of people confirmed on July 7 as participants in the Synod sessions in October this year and October next year.

He was appointed one of the Synod’s president-delegates, who take turns presiding over Synod sessions on behalf of the Pope. They are responsible for guiding the work of the Synod and assigning special tasks to certain members, when necessary, so that the assembly proceeds efficiently.

“As with the broader membership of the Synod, those invited to assist Pope Francis with presiding represent the global Church and a Church that is welcoming a diverse group of people into positions of influence.”

Archbishop Costelloe said the Synod of Synodality “offers the Church a precious opportunity to re-discover an essential dimension of its identity which has become somewhat obscured over the centuries”.

“Inspired by Pope Francis’ vision of a ‘missionary option’, the Synod invites us all, as baptised members of the Church, to recognise our common call to form, together, a community of disciples who proclaim the mighty works of God (1 Peter 2:9) by what we say and by what we do: to become, together, signs and bearers of God’s love for all people.”

https://mediablog.catholic.org.au/pope-picks-archbishop-costelloe-for-key-synod-of-bishops-role/

The Synod on Synodality is officially the 16th ordinary assembly of the synod of bishops, but it promises to be radically different from any of its predecessors.

The “members” of the synod—the 363 participants with the right to vote—have been designated in three different ways, as the synod dossier given to the press explains.

First, by reason of the function they hold (“ex officio”) as heads of Vatican dicasteries (the term used for “departments”) or the six patriarchates: There are 20 heads of dicasteries.

Second, those elected to the synod (“ex electione”) by the episcopal conferences or by the synods or councils of the 23 Oriental (Eastern Rite) Catholic churches “sui juris” and then ratified by the pope. Those elected by the Latin Rite bishops’ conferences were as follows: Africa 43, America 47, Asia 25, Europe 48, Oceania 5. Those elected by the Oriental churches total 20.

Pope Francis also decreed that five men religious and five women religious were to be elected by the Unions of Superiors General that represent men and women religious. In the past, only men were elected.

Third, a number of members were nominated by the pope (“ex nominatione pontificia”). He chose a total of 50.

He has also chosen 70 members (35 men, 35 women) from a list of 140 names given to him by the bodies that organized the seven continental synods, which were held in the first quarter of this year.

The total number of members with the right to vote, 363, is the highest number ever to participate in a synod. It includes 54 women (both religious and lay), who for the first time ever will have the right to vote. The members come from all continents, and from countries with different social, cultural, religious and political situations, some of them are suffering from armed conflict or persecution. The members reflect the universality and the Catholicity of the church.

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/07/07/pope-francis-synod-synodality-members-245654

America: The Jesuit Review