First work day of Synod

185 Synodal Fathers (most of them Patriarchs and Bishops), 36 experts and 34 auditors gathered in the Synod Hall inside the Vatican to begin the proceedings of the Synod of the Catholic Church in the Middle East. Pope Benedict XVI presided the liturgy of the hours during which he gave a short homily. In his words, he first made reference to the fact that on this day, October 11, in 1962, the Second Vatican Council got under way, convened by Blessed Pope John XXIII, whose feast day is celebrated on this very day. The Pope reminded the Fathers of the Church’s task to fight idolatry – the modern period having given rise to a whole new set of idolatries – terrorism, drugs, sexual immorality – each one seeking to replace God and leading humanity to destruction. This fight against the idolatries of the modern world depends on the cultivation of a firm and simple faith.

The other speakers in the first morning session included Cardinal Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, who warmly thanked the Pope in he name of all present for his paternal solicitude for the Churches of the Middle East. He was followed by Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, whose address prepared the participants for the Synod proceedings. He was followed by the General Reporter of the Synod, Coptic Patriarch Antonios Naguib, who, with the help of the Special Secretary, Maronite Archbishop Joseph Soueif from Cyprus, read the long pre-Synod text that attempted to neatly summarize the Instrumentum Laboris, readying the Synod Fathers for the work of the Synod.

Video clip of inauguration