Each month Pope Francis prays for a special intention. This month, he wants Catholics to listen to the Holy Spirit so the Church gets closer to God and becomes a place of solidarity, fraternity and welcome.
“Let us pray that the Church, ever faithful to the Gospel and courageous in preaching it, may live in an increasing atmosphere of synodality and be a community of solidarity, fraternity and welcome,” Francis says in his October video prayer message.
Synod and synodality mean “walking together,” Francis explains.
“It means listening to each other in our diversity and opening doors to those outside the Church. It’s not about gathering opinions, nor holding a parliament. The synod isn’t a survey; it’s about listening to the protagonist, the Holy Spirit. It’s about praying. Without prayer, there will be no Synod.”
This “is what God expects of the Church of the third millennium – that it regains its awareness of being a people on the road and of having to travel together”, he says.
Francis wants Catholics to “take advantage of this opportunity to be a Church of closeness, which is God’s style – closeness”. He also asks Catholics to “give thanks to all the people of God who, with their attentive listening, are walking the synodal way”.
His special intention for “A Church that is open to everyone” comes at a critical moment of the synodal process. The initial stage has concluded and the continental stage has begun.
Now, the emphasis falls on listening, discernment and dialogue on a regional level, based on the contributions received from the local Churches.
Francis says “everyone has something to learn. The faithful people, the college of bishops, the Bishop of Rome: all listening to each other, and all listening to the Holy Spirit.”
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