The Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist

By Cardinal Justin Rigali

At the time of this writing I am in Rome participating in the Synod of Bishops. The theme of this meeting, which lasts three weeks, is “The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church.”

The aim of the Synod is to help reinforce the participation of all the faithful in the Eucharist, to help the people of God realize the connection that there must be between the Eucharist and their lives.

The Synod itself reflects the universality of the Church: 246 Bishops, plus 10 Religious Superiors, have gathered from all over the world. All continents and 118 nations are represented. Besides the Bishops, “Fraternal Delegates” have been invited from 12 other Churches and ecclesial communities. A number of experts, observers and assistants are also present.

The opening Mass of the Synod was celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI and all the Synod Fathers on Sunday, October 2, in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica. It was a moving experience to see such a universal expression of the community of the Church. In this opening Mass, besides Latin, English, Spanish, French, German, Tagalog, Swahili, Polish, Italian and Portuguese were also used.

Since the opening Mass, the Synod members have been gathering every day, morning and afternoon, Monday through Saturday. Discussions are had on the basis of a working document (Instrumentum Laboris) prepared with input from Bishops throughout the world. The Synod sessions include prayer, the prepared intervention of the Synod Fathers, open discussion and the work of small groups divided according to various languages. Each Bishop is given 6 minutes to make his intervention. When all 256 Synod Fathers have spoken, the Fraternal Delegates and Observers will also be invited to speak.

The work of the small groups is carried on in English, French, Italian, Spanish and German. Because of the large number of English-speaking Bishops, there are three groups for discussion in English. I was elected Moderator of one group that has members from Guam, Lesothe, New Zealand, Canada, India, Korea, Sierra Leone, Ireland, Kenya, Scotland, Australia, Sri Lanka, Eritrea, Liberia, Zambia and several from the United States. It is extremely interesting and useful to see how the Eucharist is lived in so many different situations.

Truly the whole concept of Catholicity and globalization is very much a part of the Synod. We have heard dozens of Bishops speak about the challenges facing their local Churches and the working of God’s grace in the hearts of their people. The many difficulties and hopes that surface in their communities have been amply treated, with numerous different insights and opinions expressed.

By the end the first week, 148 Synod Fathers had spoken. Each Bishop brings with him the hopes, joys, aspirations and suffering of his people. During the Synod, the Bishops of Pakistan and India bore the suffering of the situation involving thousands of victims from the recent earthquake.

On the second Sunday of the Synod, the famous German Cardinal Clemens August Graf von Galen was beatified in Saint Peter’s Basilica. Cardinal von Galen was Bishop of Münster in Germany and he died in 1946 just weeks after being made a Cardinal by Pope Pius XII. During World War II he was a vigorous opponent of National Socialism and the whole Nazi regime under Hitler. One of my predecessors in St. Louis, Cardinal Glennon, was made a Cardinal in the same Consistory, and, like Cardinal von Galen, died just days after the ceremony in Rome.

The 4 general divisions in the Bishops’ discussions have been the 4 parts of the Working Paper: 1) The Eucharist and Today’s World; 2) The Faith of the Church in the Mystery of the Eucharist; 3) The Eucharist in the Life of the Church; 4) The Eucharist in the Mission of the Church.

During these days a great emphasis has been placed upon the importance of the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist for the people of God. We have been reminded how people have suffered and died in order to be able to participate in the Sunday Eucharist. Another topic that has received a great deal of emphasis is the value of Eucharistic adoration, which flows from the Eucharistic action and leads people back to it. The fruits of this devotion have appeared throughout so many countries and dioceses in the world. In one of the former Synods of Bishops it had been stated that Eucharistic adoration was seen as “a new emerging sign of the times.”

Over and over again during the Synod, the members have spoken about the challenges that the Eucharist presents to the whole Church: challenges of charity, service, social justice, non-violence, peace and upright personal living. So many of these topics will be treated in the proposals that the Bishops will present to the Holy Father for his consideration in formulating the final results of the Synod.

These final proposals will be part of the document that Pope Benedict XVI will issue to summarize the Synod’s work. It will be called a “Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation,” thus showing that it is the work both of the Pope and the Synod members.

Throughout all these days our attention and prayers are concentrated on the circumstances in which millions and millions of Catholics live their daily lives, striving to be faithful to their Eucharistic vocation. The Holy Father and the Synod Members hope and pray that this Synod will indeed help the Catholics of the world to realize the great privilege that is theirs by Baptism to be able to share in the Eucharist, and the great challenge that is theirs to live it to the full.

I ask all of you, the people of God in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, to join in praying for the success of the Synod, and in opening your hearts to reflect again on God’s great love revealed in the Holy Eucharist. I make a special appeal to our contemplative Religious and to all who bear the burden of sickness and suffering. I also ask parents to explain to their children that they, too, by their prayers, can contribute to a great event that is taking place for the benefit of the universal Church.