The majority of members of Group 1 were appointed by the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches. At the beginning of the Second Session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod (2 October 2024), the report from Group 1 was presented by His Eminence Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the same Dicastery.
This report, outlining the increasingly difficult situation of Eastern Catholic faithful who have fled to the West, set the following objective: «Precisely to facilitate the understanding and resolution of these problems, Group 1 proposes to examine carefully the question of the pastoral care of Eastern Catholics in the diaspora, especially those who are without their own Ordinary», specifying that «this work is intended to flow into a document of the Holy See, prepared by the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches and addressed by the Holy Father to the Latin Bishops, containing some guidelines on these aspects...». Thus, the work of Group 1 initially coincided with that of the “Preparatory Group for the Document on Relations between Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church,” established by the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.
According to the same report, the Group began its work «by considering various issues, articulated in a questionnaire of 25 questions, to which the members were invited to respond». In light of the topics identified by the Synthesis Report (28 October 28 2023) and those assigned to Group 1 by the «Work Outline» of the Secretariat of the Synod (14 March 2024), it became clear that the Group’s mandate would not encompass all issues concerning the Eastern Churches that emerged during the synodal process.
Meanwhile, responding to an invitation from the Secretary General of the Synod, His Eminence Cardinal Mario Grech, the Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the Middle East submitted several proposals and suggestions. In March 2025, on the initiative of Group 10, a small number of members from both Study Groups held a consultation on topics of common interest.
The first such consultation took place at the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches on 8 April 2025. During this meeting, it became evident that the Dicastery’s “Preparatory Group” and Group 1 are two distinct working groups, despite having an almost identical membership. Professor Péter Szabó was invited to this meeting as an external observer in his role as coordinator of Group 1 of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. At the meeting, the Dicastery’s “Preparatory Group” clarified that it intended to focus exclusively on the pastoral care of Eastern faithful in the diaspora who lack their own Hierarch. Thanks to this important clarification, Group 1 was able to begin a more independent course of activity. However, due to the subsequent vacancy of the Apostolic See, this work only truly commenced after the synodal journey was resumed by Pope Leo XIV.
Given the additional time made available to the Study Groups until the end of 2025, the Coordinator asked Group 1 members to submit a written summary of their priorities and proposals by July 2025. These were to take into account the needs expressed by the Eastern Catholic Churches, while also adhering to the guidelines and methodology outlined in the aforementioned «Work Outline» of the Secretariat of the Synod. In July 2025, two online meetings of the Group were held, during which, following a rich exchange among the members, the themes to be developed in future meetings were outlined (including formation in the history and theology of the Christian East in the Latin Church, the possible revision of certain norms of Eastern canon law, and questions relating to the pastoral care of the faithful of the Eastern Catholic Churches).
Coordinator: Prof. Péter Szabó