From February 5 to 12, 2023, the European continental preparation for the synodal process of the World Synod will take place in Prague. Pope Francis launched the World Synod of Bishops in October 2021 as a four-year worldwide process divided into several phases. For the Prague conference, for which the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) is responsible, 200 people are now meeting locally and 390 are connected online. Two representatives of the Schoenstatt Movement participated in the conference from February 5-9. One of them is Maria Pelz from the international leadership of the Schoenstatt Family Federation. The General Presidium of the Schoenstatt Movement has sent Father Heinrich Walter  as delegate of the President, Father Awi Melo as participant in the first phase of the conference.

How to make the mission of proclaiming the Gospel a reality?

Under the title “Enlarge the space of your tent” (Is 54:2), the “Working Document for the Continental Stage” was published at the end of October 2022 and the local churches were invited to prepare contributions for a “Document for the Continental Stage”. The Continental Assembly in Prague exchanges views on this and tries to find answers, from a European perspective, to the question of how this “journey together” “which enables the Church to proclaim the Gospel according to the mission entrusted to her” can be shaped today at the various levels, from the local to the universal. Special attention should be given to the steps to which the Holy Spirit invites the Church to grow “as a synodal Church”. (cf. Preparatory Document, no. 2).

Pope Francis is convinced that “the world in which we live and which, in all its contradictions, we are called to love and serve… demands of the Church an increase in her cooperation in all areas of her mission.” And he continues, “What the Lord asks of us is in a certain sense already contained in the word ‘synod’. Moving forward together – laity, pastors and Bishop of Rome – is a concept easy to express in words, but not so easy to put into practice.” (Address of October 17, 2015)

At the conclusion of the Continental Assembly, a final document will be prepared which, together with the other six continental final documents, will be used by the Secretariat of the Synod in Rome as the basis for the Instrumentum laboris of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome. The General Assembly will be held in two sessions, one year apart: the first from October 4-29, 2023, and the second in October 2024.

The Continental Assembly is partially broadcast live

Each European Bishops’ Conference sent four delegates to the Continental Assembly in Prague. In addition to these 156 delegates, 44 people have been invited by the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE),

– Each of the 39 Bishops’ Conferences has designated another 10 people for the 390 participants who go online.

– For the first part of the Continental Assembly, from February 5 to 9, a live webcast was planned on the Congress Internet platform at https://prague.synod2023.org, as well as a summary of the content and a photo gallery for each day of the event. The conference continues without media coverage from February 10-12, with the participation of the 39 Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe.

The CCEE website is https://www.ccee.eu/

-Information is available on CCEE’s official Facebook page and Instagram channel..