Hello and welcome!
Sunday, the Holy Father invited the Synod participants to join him in praying a rosary for peace at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the eve Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, which he had designated as a day of prayer and fasting for world peace.
It was a full Basilica with all the people from the Synod and others joining us. It was a very beautiful ceremony that included praying the rosary and the Litany of Loretto, after which the Holy Father gave a short meditation.
Of course, also that day, the Holy Father announced a new slate of Cardinals. The only North American residential archbishop among them is Archbishop Leo of Toronto. Though, I was also very pleased to see the list included Father Timothy Radcliffe, who, as I mentioned last week, gave the retreat for the opening of the Synod and was the Master General of the Dominican Order.
Monday, I had the Opening Mass for the plenary session of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which brought together commission members from all over the world.
The Mass was celebrated in the Chapel of St. John, which is very near the Pantheon, as well as the commission’s offices in Maffei.
Our sessions of the plenary began on Tuesday morning. Then, on Wednesday, we had a long meeting with the officials from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the new head of the disciplinary section, newly ordained Bishop John Kennedy, whom I mentioned last week. We discussed the justice issues involved in their work and how it is complementary to the safeguarding mission of the commission.
Tuesday night, I was very happy to have dinner with some of the leadership of OSV News who are in Rome for the Synod, National News Editor Peter Jesserer Smith, Senior Writer Maria Wiering and Editor-in-Chief Gretchen Crowe.
I was very impressed with their sense of vocation and their desire to use the media as a way of spreading the Gospel. As one of the members of the OSV team said, their task is to “inform, form and to inspire.” I thought that was a beautiful way to describe their mission.
Wednesday, the Synod particpants gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica for a Mass celebrated by Maronite Bishop Paul Rouhana, who is an auxiliary bishop of Beirut.
Bishop Youhanna Warcha, the procurator of the Maronite Patriarch in Rome, addressed us at the beginning of the Mass.
He said he was so grateful for the opportunity to celebrate the Maronite liturgy with the Synod participants and invited everyone to pray for peace in the world, the Middle East and Lebanon. Of course, we also remembered Cardinal Bechara Rai, who remains in Lebanon due to the escalating situation there.
In his homily, Bishop Rouhana reminded us that the future of our Churches and countries, especially those in crisis, should not only rely on political strategies. Instead, we should base our hope and actions on the teachings of Christ and the example of the saints.
He spoke about the saints as paradigms of peace, those who listened to God and brought His peace to others. He reminded us that true peace starts within us, in harmony with God, and then spreads. It was a powerful message.
Lebanon is now in such terrible straits, and it was a very beautiful and moving celebration to pray for peace there.
Finally, of course, we continue with the meetings of the Synod, studying the different themes that are outlined in the Instrumentum Laboris.
The local and regional preparation for the Synod was probably the largest survey ever taken in the history of humanity, with the number of people who participated in the preparation and questions and so forth that formed the background for Instrumentum Laboris, which we are now studying in our different small groups that come together in the Synod Hall.
Until next week,
Cardinal Seán