Pope Leo XIV sends a message, signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Parolin, to a conference in Camaldoli, Italy on the theme: “What kind of bishop in a synodal Church?”
By Vatican News
May these days of study inspire “a renewed understanding that walking together is the style of life and mission of the Church.”
That was the hope Pope Leo XIV expressed to the speakers and participants in the theological conference ‘What kind of bishop in a synodal Church?’, currently underway at the Hermitage of Camaldoli, central Italy.
The four-day event, running from from October 6 to 9, aims to explore the figure and ministry of the bishop within a synodal Church, seeking to explore how the Church can develop a synodal style and structure by rethinking episcopal ministry from a synodal perspective.
The Pope’s Message
In the message – signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and addressed to Dom Matteo Ferrari, Prior General of the Camaldolese Congregation of the Order of Saint Benedict – the Pope calls the gathering “significant”, and adds that he is “spiritually” present.
He expresses appreciation for the initiative, which he says is of “theological and ecclesial depth.”
His hope, he says, is that the meeting might awaken a new awareness of “walking together,” as “authentic synodality by its very nature requires listening and the participation of all the baptized, according to the vocation of each” – but, Pope Leo emphasised, we “cannot disregard the authority conferred by Christ on the College of Bishops with the Successor of Peter as its head.”