The Vatican Press Office has announced that Pope John Paul has announced that the next Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will take place in the Vatican from October 2 to 29, 2005, on the theme, “The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church.”

The theme responds to the growing concern of Pope John Paul about the importance given to the Eucharist in the Church and the way Mass is celebrated.  These concerns were expressed last Holy Thursday in the Pope’s last Encyclical “Ecclesia de Eucharistia.”