Cardinal Tobin reflects on second week of the Synod of Bishops (Video)
In his second week at the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, spent time in small-group discussions discussing communion.
The 364 delegates and the 85 experts, facilitators, and ecumenical delegates accompanying them were broken into 35 small groups of 12. The 35 working groups include 14 groups working in English, eight in Italian, seven in Spanish, five in French, and one in Portuguese. Every week the groups will change.
The theme of the synod is: “For a synodal church: Communion, participation, mission.”
This week, Cardinal Tobin was part of an English-speaking group. The group included a young mother from Ukraine, a woman from Russia, the coordinator was from Singapore and the secretary was from Malaysia, Cardinal Tobin said.
“It was a diverse group. But we share a commonality being united to Christ Jesus in his death and resurrection through our own baptism,” Cardinal Tobin said. “That baptismal voice was heard in all of our conversations.
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“What about the people who don’t feel welcome although baptized but don’t feel welcome in the Eucharistic assemblies?” he asked in his message video.
Cardinal Tobin told Catholic News Service after the session said the church knows it can and must rely on “the gifts of everyone.”
Next week the focus shifts to mission, and as the discussion continues Cardinal Tobin said, the church knows it can and must rely on “the gifts of everyone.”
Cardinal Tobin said that the focus on mission and the previous days’ focus on communion are inextricably tied.
“I sense in the hall there is great hope, and I think it is because people recognize the abundance of gifts that are present, as well as the mutual respect and the freedom that is being afforded to every delegate to speak on the topics before us,” the cardinal said to CNS.
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The Synod of Synodality began in 2021. The Archdiocese of Newark held a series of 700 prayerful listening sessions capturing the voices of more than 15,000 northern New Jerseyans in 2021 and 2022.
The conversations taking place in Rome will be based on three fundamental questions: First, how can we be united, not divided, as missionary disciples? Second, how can we effectively carry out the Church’s mission in today’s world? And third, what do we need to do to engage ALL Christians fully and actively in the mission and ministry of Jesus?
Ideas generated during the Synod this month will be the subject of further discussions in local diocesan communities throughout the world next year in preparation for the Synod’s final session in October 2024, Cardinal Tobin said.
