Synod leaders pledge obedience to Pope Leo XIV

Vatican City, May 13, 2025 / 11:43 am

The leadership of the Vatican’s synod office has pledged its full availability and support of Pope Leo XIV in a public letter to the new pontiff shared Tuesday to its website and social media pages.

Noting that the synodal journey “continues” under Leo’s guidance, the letter says the General Secretariat of the Synod looks “with confidence to the directions you will indicate, to help the Church grow as a community attentive to listening, close to each person, capable of authentic and welcoming relationships — a home and family of God open to all: a missionary synodal Church.”

Signed by Secretary-General Cardinal Mario Grech and undersecretaries Sister Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, and Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín, OSA, the letter explains the path the Synod on Synodality has taken since its start in 2021, including Pope Francis’ approval of the final document at the end of the general assembly in October 2024.

“The General Secretariat of the Synod remains fully available to offer its service in a spirit of collaboration and obedience,” it concluded.

As prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, the now-Pope Leo XIV participated in both sessions of the assembly of the Synod on Synodality in October 2023 and October 2024.

Like Leo, Marín, one of the synod’s undersecretaries, is a member of the Order of St. Augustine.

The synod, the letter says, “is an ecclesial journey led by the Holy Spirit, the gift of the risen Lord, who helps us grow as a missionary Church, constantly undergoing conversion through attentive listening to the Gospel.”

The letter also quotes an accompanying note to the final document, which said the document’s indications “can already now be implemented in the local Churches and groupings of Churches, taking into account different contexts, what has already been done, and what remains to be done.”