Jesuit Superior General Arturo Sosa and Sister Elizabeth Mary Davis, RSM, are among the delegates representing religious orders.
Father Timothy Radcliffe, OP, a prominent British theologian who has drawn criticism by some for his statements on homosexuality, is listed as a spiritual assistant, a nonvoting position in the Synod on Synodality. Radcliffe, who served as master of the Order of Preachers from 1992 to 2001, will also lead a three-day retreat for all of the synod participants ahead of the assembly.
In a change from recent synods, Pope Francis has broken the general assembly into two sessions, one to be held in October 2023 and the second in October 2024.
According to Cardinal Mario Grech, the head of the Vatican’s synod office, conclusions will be reached only after the second session in 2024. At the end of the first session this year, the synod leadership will propose to participants some ideas for what to do in between the two sessions.
The Catholic Church’s Synod on Synodality has been underway since October 2021. At the end of the process in 2024, synod assembly participants will vote on an advisory final document that will be presented to the pope, who can decide, if he wishes, to adopt the text as a papal document or to write his own at the conclusion of the synod.
Pope Francis has said that he sees the Holy Spirit as “the heart of synodality.”
“The synod now taking place is — and should be — a journey in accordance with the Spirit, not a parliament for demanding rights and claiming needs in accordance with the agenda of the world, nor an occasion for following wherever the wind is blowing, but the opportunity to be docile to the breath of the Holy Spirit,” the pope said.
Jonathan Liedl of the National Catholic Register, Andrea Gagliarducci of CNA, AC Wimmer of CNA Deutsch, EWTN Rome correspondent Rudolf Gehrig, and freelance writer Rachel Thomas contributed to this story.
Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.