The Churches of Asia, in communion with Catholic communities around the world, yesterday marked the start of the two-year synodal path announced by Pope Francis centred on the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission”.
The first phase, which entails listening to the whole people of God, will see individual dioceses take the lead.
To this end, Card Oswald Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), led a solemn Mass in the Cathedral of the Holy Name of Jesus in Mumbai.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, only 122 people representing various groups attended the service, while thousands more people followed the service via online streaming.
In a show of the willingness to listen to everyone, women were given a prominent place in the liturgical readings. A migrant woman from Jharkhand proclaimed the first reading in Hindi (the national language), while a second woman performed the second reading in Marathi (the local language). Prayers were also recited in Tamil and Konkani.
In his homily, Card Gracias said, “the Synodal process [is] meant to reform the church, by discerning what ails the Church, which means even listening to those who have left the Church and those who are thinking of leaving the Church, [for] they have a story to tell, which might make us reflect.”