Cardinal Tobin highlights Instrumentum Laboris, characteristic signs of a synodal Church

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, 

With this newsletter, I would like to begin a series of reflections inspired by the Instrumentum Laboris, the “working document” for the first session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (October 4-29, 2023). 

According to Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the General Secretariat of the Synod, speaking last month at the press conference presenting the Instrumentum Laboris, The Instrumentum Laboris is not a document of the Holy See, but of the whole Church. It is not a document written at a desk. It is a document in which all are co-authors, each for the part he or she is called to play in the Church, in docility to the Spirit.  

We will not find in the text of the Instrumentum Laboris a theoretical systematic explanation of synodality, but the fruit of a Church experience, of a journey in which we have all learnt more by walking together and questioning ourselves on the meaning of this experience. 

Cardinal Grech assures us that this Instrumentum Laboris is a text in which no one’s voice is missing. “It is the voice of the Holy People of God; of the Pastors, who have ensured ecclesial discernment with their participation; of the Pope, who has always accompanied us, supported us, encouraged us to move forward,” Cardinal Grech says.  

The Instrumentum Laboris is also an opportunity for all of us—the entire People of God—to continue the synodal journey that we have begun together, and it as an opportunity to involve those who have not been engaged so far. Our Holy Father Pope Francis eagerly desires that all of us, no matter who we are or what our situation in life is, participate in this synodal journey— through our prayer, attentive listening, respectful dialogue (especially with those who disagree with us), and our prayerful discernment of God’s will for us.

Continue reading Cardinal Joseph Tobin’s latest newsletter.