"I will have to be in the Synodof course. The appointment was not for a part of the Synod, but for the whole Synod, and this is the second part. With courage in my heart, and with concern for the responsibility that comes with something so great, which has been placed in the hands and hearts of those of us who are there".
This is how Enrique Alarcón comments to Omnes on his preparations to participate in the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality in Rome, where 365 members - 269 bishops and 96 non-bishops, not definitive figures - will meet with the Pope to answer the question: "How to be a missionary synodal Church," as Ricardo Battocchio, special secretary of the Assembly, explains in the October issue of Omnes magazine.
"A month is a long time, it means a lot of preparation for me to get around, with the issue of the electric wheelchair, luggage... Fortunately, there is the humility of my wife, who gives up a month of her work, and comes there, so that I can be there. So we are going to the Synod in 2 for 1", adds Enrique Alarcón.
"We know what faith is like: walking sometimes in the shadows."
"We trust that it is the Lord who is guiding us at this moment in history, and the Church has to respond. Even if it costs us, even if sometimes we do not see it. But we know what faith is like. It is to walk, sometimes in the shadows, in the fog, but it is the Spirit who guides us. And this is where the Synod will bear fruit. Just as the first Assembly did, so will this one, and in that confidence we will be there," the former president of the Synod told Omnes. Frater (Christian Fellowship of People with Disabilities), which he has chaired for several years.
During the first Assembly, Enrique Alarcón He told Omnes: "The presence of a Pope in a wheelchair is impressive". "Listening in the Holy Spirit should permeate the Church."
"Prayer for the Holy Father, for all, for me."
When we told him about our intention to pray for the Assembly, Enrique Alarcon said: "Thank you for your prayers, for your prayers. For me, I need it, to see if I can have enough physical and mental strength to endure the long days of work. The work there is very deep, very serious, as you know. And for everyone. For the Holy Father, because we need the work to bear fruit. So thank you very much. A big hug, and courage and go ahead with everything forever, see you later, my friend".
As for Frater, he adds: "I'm feeling fine, I still have some autumn aches and pains, but we're getting there. In Frater everything is moving forward, calm, it is the first year that the new team is here, it is a year of running in. But they are already planning things, they are moving a lot, visiting the dioceses, with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of encouragement, as Frater should".
Mass at the beginning of the Synod
Official opening of the work of the Synodal Assembly with a concelebrated Mass in St. Peter's Square on the feast of the Guardian Angels, Wednesday, October 2, the program includes a penitential celebration presided over by the Pope with the testimonies of three victims of abuse, war and indifference to migration. Among the new features: four forums open to the public. You can consult here the outline of the Instrumentum Laboris of the Synod, and the Letter of the Holy Father to Cardinal Mario Grech, dated February 22 of this year.
