Press Release

General Secretariat of the Synod

Works for the Instrumentum Laboris of the Synodal Assembly of October 2023 underway

From this morning (12 April) and until next 19 April, a group of experts from the five continents, who participated in various capacities in the synod process, will meet at the General Secretariat of the Synod for a time of work and discernment on the Continental Stage and the seven final documents of the Continental Synodal Assemblies with the aim of starting the reflection that will lead at a later stage to the drafting of the Instrumentum Laboris, the working document for the first session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (Vatican City, 4-29 October 2023).

After a moment of prayer and the introductory session, the work will include a wide-ranging sharing on the Continental Stage as a whole and on the experience lived during the seven continental synodal assemblies (for more information: https://synod2023.org). Subsequently, the Final Documents received by the General Secretariat of the Synod, the fruit of the communitarian discernment of the People of God, will be analysed in detail in order to highlight tensions and priorities to be studied in depth during the October assembly. The days will be marked by the daily celebration of the Eucharist and moments of personal and communal prayer.

The work will take place behind closed doors. At the end of the meeting, a press conference will be held on 20 April 2023. More information on this will be communicated directly by the Holy See Press Office.

List of participants

• Cardinal Mario Grech
• Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich
• H.E. Msgr. Luis Marin de San Martín
• Rev. Sr. Nathalie Becquart
• H.E. Msgr. Timothy Costelloe
• H.E. Msgr. Lucio Andrice Muandula
• H.E. Msgr. Daniel Flores
• Rev. Monsignor Pierangelo Sequeri
• Rev. Monsignor Piero Coda
• Rev. Monsignor Tomasz Trafny
• Rev. Father Giacomo Costa
• Rev. Dario Vitali
• Rev. Sr. Shizue Hirota
• Rev. Giuseppe Bonfrate
• Prof. Myriam Wylens
• Prof. Anna Rowlands
• Rev. Pasquale Bua
• Rev. Sr. Marie-Kolbe Zamora
• Mr Paolo Foglizzo
• Mr Thierry Bonaventura
• Ms Susan Pascoe (online)
• Mr Mauricio Lopez Oropeza (online)