SoS Sat Report: The Beginning of the End

Today the Holy Father opened the XVI General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality

It has started, this three year journey of listening and discerning on how to be Church in the Third Millennium, is finally entering the home stretch. The title reflects my views that this might be the last Synod of Bishops in its current guise, but more than at the end. First a round up of the day’s happenings and some analysis.

Before assisting in cope at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that opened the XVI General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality, For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission, the Holy Father became, according to Vatican News, the first Pontiff since Innocent X to see the Cathedra Sancti Petri Apostoli. A symbol of Papal Supremacy, that many people mistake for the actual Chair of St. Peter, was actually a gift from Charles the Bald, Emperor of the Romans, to Pope John VIII in 875. The symbolism ahead of the Synod is clear. The Cathedra is normally encased in the altarpiece of the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter, but has been removed temporarily whilst the restoration work is undertaken before the Great Jubilee of 2025.

Pope Francis and the Chair of Peter (Photo Credit: Vatican Media)

The opening Mass was preceded by the Laudes Regiae, interspersed by the invocation of the saints for the Roman Pontiff, as is done at the Mass of the Inauguration of Petrine Ministry, a deliberate choice by the Holy Father. The diocesan Synods of Rome during the Patristic age were bloody, violent affairs, where people would literally kill each other. The Pope wanting a return of Synodal Church is trying to foster open discussion without the Church destroying itself in the process.