The first session of the Universal Synod, which was held in Rome during October 2023, was different to the usual way synods are held. The 365 participants, lay, women and men (it was the first time lay women voted at a Synod), bishops, religious, clergy and Cardinals sat at round tables working their way through the many themes that had been proposed from around the world in the various phases of the Synod that had taken place at local, parish and diocesan, national and continental levels.
Bishops Brendan Leahy and Alan McGuckian were the two Irish Bishops present. The Synthesis Report is divided into a preface and three parts, and traces the path for the work to be done in view of the second session of the Synod that will take place in October 2024.
The Synthesis Report is around forty pages long. The following are just some of the main points ...
* This article is based on a summary prepared by Salvatore Cernuzio of Vatican News
