At the end of the Council of the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, which took place on 16 and 17 November 2017, the Holy Father announced the appointment of the relator general, His Eminence Cardinal Sérgio da Rocha, archbishop of Brasilia and president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, and of the special secretaries, Rev. Fr. Giacomo Costa, S.J., and Don Rossano Sala, S.D.B:, for the next Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to be held in the Vatican from 3 to 8 October 2018.

The appointment of the two special secretaries is in compliance with Article 14 § 3 of the Ordo Synodi Episcoporum (cf. canon 348 § 2 of the C.I.C.). Such a function may be entrusted to ecclesiastics who are not bishops, as has already occurred in the past in several Synod Assemblies.