Final Message of the Synod of Bishops to the People of God
Friday, October 26, 2012
Today, October 26, 2012, the Holy See released the Final Message to the People of God by the Synod of Bishops on The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith. The 10-page text was approved this morning by the Bishop members of the 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. This meeting of the Synod included 262 Synod Fathers, the largest number in the history of the Roman Synods. Of these, 103 Bishops were from Europe, 63 from the Americas, including four from Canada, 50 from Africa, 39 from Asia, and seven from Oceania. His Eminence Donald William Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C., was the Synod’s general reporter; the Most Reverend Pierre-Marie Carré, Archbishop of Montpellier, France, its special secretary. The Synod assembly also included 45 experts and 49 auditors. Among the experts was one Canadian woman religious, Sister Gill Goulding, C.J., Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Spirituality at Regis College of the University of Toronto. In addition, Father Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., CEO of Salt + Light Catholic Media Foundation, was press secretary for English-speaking media at the Synod. The Synod opened toward the beginning of the month on October 7 and will conclude on Sunday, October 28, 2012, with a closing celebration presided by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome.