Glimpse into the 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
There are 14 Australians in Rome attending the October 2024 session of the 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
The assembly is a full four week meeting Monday through Saturday from 8:30am to 7:30pm. The assembly is for conversation which takes place in small groups, in plenary sessions, and during the coffee breaks. The informal time spent mingling among the nearly four hundred delegates from all over the world provides an avenue for fruitful and interesting encounters.
The Australian participants in attendance are:
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB
Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP
Archbishop Patrick O'Regan
Bishop Shane Mackinlay
Bishop Anthony Randazzo
Dr Trudy Dantis
Mr John Lochowiak
Ms Kelly Paget
Fr Sijeesh Pullenkunnel
Professor Renee Kohler-Ryan
Australian facilitators and experts include:
Dr Sandie Cornish
Br Ian Cribb SJ
Adjunct Professor Susan Pascoe
Fr Ormond Rush
The Assembly has daily press briefings and Bishop Anthony Randazzo participated in one during which he talked about the faith of the people of Oceania and warned the Church not to focus on “niche issues” at the expense of important ones.
Bishop Anthony Randazzo addressing a media briefing
On Saturday afternoon, 26 October 2024, the members of the Second Session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops approved the final document and Pope Francis approved its publication. An English language working document is available at the link below.
Final Document in English from the 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
Prefix to the Final Document of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
Below are images from the assembly. The first image shows Australian delegates at the retreat - Kelly Paget of Broken Bay (front centre), Trudy Dantis (front right) and Bishop Shane Mackinlay (back right). Also shown is the Rosary given to participants at the retreat. The last four images show the retreat and three images from the assembly. The third last image shows Bishop Robert Barron in the centre foreground. The final image shows the Oceania delegation with the Pope.