Vatican City (EFE) only prelates were allowed to vote on the final document.
The organizers of the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops announced this novelty before the Synod on synodality that is being prepared in these years and that will culminate in two meetings in Rome in October 2023 and 2024.
important news
The main novelty is that the ten clerics will be “replaced by five religious women and five religious belonging to Institutes of consecrated life, elected by the respective representative organizations of the Superiors General and Superiors General” and with the right to vote, reads the communication.
Both the nuns and the Catholic women’s associations had been asking for years to be able not only to be part of the assembly, in which some important issues of the Church are decided and debated, but also to be able to vote on the final document that the pope uses to make his decisions. .
The other great novelty is that there will be no “auditors”, as up to now, but “another 70 members, not bishops, who represent other faithful and who may be priests, consecrated persons, deacons or lay faithful and who come from local Churches” and it is expected that 50 percent will be women.
“All of them will have the right to vote”, it stands out.
These will be chosen by the Pope from a list of 140 people indicated during the International meetings of the Episcopal Conferences and the Assembly of Patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
And it has been requested that 50% of the indicated people be women and that the presence of young people is also valued.
“When identifying them, it will be necessary to take into account not only their general culture and prudence, but also their knowledge, both theoretical and practical, as well as their participation in various capacities in the synodal process,” they explain.
“All of them, as members, have the right to vote,” they point out, while until now only bishops and representatives of male congregations voted.
Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg and rapporteur of the Synod on Synodality, explained during the presentation of the news that, in his opinion, “it is not a revolution, since the assembly continues to be a meeting of bishops, with the participation of non-residents.” bishops”, since about 75% of the participants will continue to be bishops.
Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the Synod, also wanted to downplay these changes, adding that “it will continue to be a Synod of bishops, but there will be this participation as members of the laity.”
“Their presence and participation not only ensures the dialogue between the prophecy of the people of God and the discernment of the pastors. His presence guarantees memory, they are testimonies of the process, of the itinerary, of the discernment that he began two years ago”, he added.