The 2018 Synod on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment—which began Oct. 3 and will conclude Oct. 28—is the culmination of focused work that began in 2017. In a letter on Jan. 2017, Pope Francis announced the synod and presented a preparatory document.
The bishops’ task for 2017 was to listen to young people. They disseminated a survey of young people’s experiences in dioceses worldwide before the synod. Additionally, a pre-synodal meeting of 300 young people from around the world was held in March 2018. (On Jesuitical, America’s podcast for young Catholics, Katie Prejean McGrady told us about what it was like to be at the pre-synodal gathering.) The young people produced a document “on the state of things, their ideas, their feelings and their recommendations.” This document, along with the synod of bishops’ Instrumentum laboris, or working document, will inform the Synod onYoung People.
Some have called for the synod on youth to be cancelled in light of recent revelations of sexual abuse; however, the synod continued as planned on Oct. 3. And despite recent criticisms directed at Pope Francis, the president delegate for the opening afternoon’s plenary session, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako I, expressed the synod’s support for the pope, saying: “We wish to express our closeness to you and to thank you for the indications you have given, which give us strength to go forward.”
America’s Vatican correspondent, Gerard O’Connell,and America’s national correspondent, Michael O’Loughlin, will be in Rome covering the 2018 Synod on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment.
From Michael and Gerry:
- Synod 2018 Day 1: Migrants, sex abuse and church credibility
- Synod 2018 Day 2: the church needs a “preferential option for young people”
- Archbishop Scicluna does not expect ‘quick answers’ from Synod on abuse
- Synod 2018 Day 6: Young people aren’t just spectators, ‘they’re part of the parade’
- Synod working groups highlight sexual abuse, digital culture
- Jesuit superior general: Synod must discern ‘signs of the times’ through eyes of young people
- Catholic teaching on conscience is (again) topic of discussion at synod
- Head of Taizé Community: Young people need authentic friendship
- African cardinal: Your iPhone is feeding the global arms trade
- Cardinals: L.G.B.T. issues part of youth synod discussion
- Synod fathers: Young people must be welcomed—but also challenged
- Vatican expert: Tone down the crisis rhetoric on human migration
- Cardinal Nichols: The synod on young people ‘unlike any other I have attended’
More on what is happening at the 2018 Synod on Young People:
- What’s it like being the only female cleric at the synod on young people?
- Young Jesuit grad at the synod: justice for migrants is personal
- Pope Francis calls on synod to enable young people “to have the gift of prophecy and vision”
- Pope opens youth meeting as sex abuse survivors stage sit-in
- Final synod document will reflect a global church
- Cardinal Sarah: ‘Watering down’ church teaching won’t attract young people
- Archbishop Chaput: Synod missed opportunity to apologize for sex abuse
- Australian bishop: respect for women is a top concern at Synod
- Greater inclusion at the synod could complicate collegiality among bishops
Opinions and reflections on young people and the synod:
- Why I want my daughter to grow up in a noisy, chaotic Catholic Church
- The synod reminds U.S. Catholics to listen to the global church
- Why can’t women vote at the Synod on Young People?
- The synod of bishops must consider young Catholics’ desire for authenticity
- Reflections on Two L.G.B.T. Questions at the Synod
- Why we still need a synod on youth
- The synod on young people needs to listen to all voices—Catholic or not
- Can the Catholic Church keep millennials from passing it by?
- Don’t wait for the young adult group to get involved in your parish
More on the lead up to the 2018 Synod on Young People:
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts