The synod on synodality is the “new Pentecost,” which will renew active participation of all Catholics in the life and mission of their church, Congolese Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Kinshasa said in his homily during a Mass with synod participants in St. Peter’s Basilica on 13th October
The cardinal, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, related the synod assembly to a reading from the Book of Joel, in which the prophet calls on Israel’s priests to express their sorrow to God after a locust infestation decimated the year’s harvest and to “gather the elders together to study and seek new ways of presenting themselves before God.”
Similarly, “coming from every continent and gathered together as one family in the beauty of unity in cultural diversity, we are also invited to weep and mourn at this altar, at the tomb of St. Peter, for our weaknesses as church,” he said.
Citing the synod assembly’s working document, the cardinal noted the crises related to sexual abuse and the abuse of power, money and conscience that “risked distancing people from the church.” Synod participants, he said, must “weep and ask God for forgiveness for our faults.”
Picture: Congolese Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Kinshasa, right, elevates the host alongside concelebrants during Mass as part of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, 13th October 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)