Vatican, 17 April 2026
The General Secretariat of the Synod convened, on the afternoon of Friday, 17 April, the XVI Ordinary Council, held online.
Following a moment of prayer led by Sr. Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, Undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod, the Secretary General, cardinal Mario Grech, opened the session with several communications concerning the current phase of implementation of the Final Document of the XVI Assembly, the work of the Study Groups whose final reports are in the process of being published, and the forthcoming organization of two meetings.
- First, the convocation, from 23 to 25 June 2026, of a meeting to prepare the continental evaluation Assemblies scheduled for the first four months of 2028. Those invited include: one representative of the Patriarchs of the Council of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Churches, the Presidents of the International Meetings of Episcopal Conferences, as well as the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of USA and Canada, each accompanied by the Coordinator of the Synodal Team of the respective body and, if possible, by the Secretary General. The Holy Father Leo XIV will take part in a specific working session.
· Secondly, the meeting, to be held in the Vatican from 7 to 14 October 2026, of the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences from around the world on the theme of the family in the light of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia. The meeting had been announced by the Holy Father himself in his Message on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Amoris laetitia (19 March 2026). With this meeting, Pope Leo XIV intends “to proceed, in mutual listening, to a synodal discernment on the steps to be taken in order to proclaim the Gospel to families today […] and taking into account what is currently being done in the local Churches”. The Holy Father has entrusted the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life with the preparation of the meeting, asking the General Secretariat of the Synod to offer organizational and methodological support. For the sake of clarity, it is specified that this is not a synodal assembly, but a consultative meeting of the Holy Father with the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences and of the Synods of the Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris.
Following these communications, Fr. Giacomo Costa, S.J., Consultor of the General Secretariat and Special Secretary of the XVI Assembly, presented a proposal for a document for the implementation phase of the Synod, particularly concerning the organization of the evaluation assemblies. The Council discussed the document at length and approved its general structure. The final version of the document, intended as a complement to the Pathways for the Implementation Phase published in June 2025, will be revised by the Ordinary Council and published by the beginning of summer.
Finally, the members of the Ordinary Council asked Cardinal Mario Grech to convey to H.E. Msgr. Luis Marín de San Martín their gratitude for his years of service at the General Secretariat of the Synod, assuring him of their prayers for his new ministry as Almoner of His Holiness and Prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, to which the Holy Father has appointed him.