WelCom October 2023
In the lead-up to the start of the Synod of Bishops on 4 October, the Vatican has asked all baptised people to participate in October’s assembly of the Synod of Bishops with their prayers.
In a letter issued 15 September, Synod secretary-general Cardinal Mario Grech asked the world’s bishops ‘to pray for the Synod and to urge every Christian community in your particular church, especially monastic communities, toward unanimous and incessant prayer’.
Grech wrote, ‘To pray for the synodal assembly, to intercede for all of its members, firstly the Holy Father who so often asks us to pray for him, is to realise the highest level of participation.’
The cardinal identified four modes of prayer for people to join themselves to the synod: listening, adoration, intercession and thanksgiving.
Archbishop Paul Martin sm along with New Zealand’s other bishops received the letter from the Secretary General of the Synod Office with prayers and blessings to be prayed in the weeks before and during the Synod in Rome, giving everyone the opportunity to participate. Parishes and groups in the dioceses have received information to encourage everyone’s prayerful participation.
See also: What you need to know about the Synod on Synodality