Ecumenical dimension of Continental Stage of 2021‒2024 Synod

On 27 October, the Working Document for the Continental Stage of the 2021-2024 Synod, entitled “Enlarge the space of your tent” (Is 54:2), was presented by the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. The document underlines the importance of the “walking together with all Christians”, noting that “[m]any reports emphasize that there is no complete synodality without unity among Christians” (§48). The document also reflects that “the reports also note that there is an ‘ecumenism of martydom’ where persecution continues to unite Christians” (idem.) and that “[r]evitalizing the commitment to dialogue and accompaniment as a witness in a fragmented world requires targeted formation that increases confidence, capacity and motivation for ecumenical and interreligious dialogue among bishops, priests, consecrated women and men, lay men and women” (§49).

In a joint letter sent on 28 October 2021 to all the bishops responsible for ecumenism, Cardinal Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, had offered suggestions aimed at implementing the ecumenical dimension of the synodal process in local churches. “Indeed, both synodality and ecumenism are processes of ‘walking together’ ”, wrote the two Cardinals.

For the 2022 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the same Cardinals invited all Christians to pray for unity and to continue walking together.