The Continental Stage consists of a time of listening and discernment of all of the people of God and of all local churches on a continental basis, leading to a series of continental assemblies.
This does not mean a replication of the consultation, listening and discernment that has already taken place, which was an invitation to all of the people of God. This is, rather, a deepening of that discernment process by the people identified to represent the local churches in the pre-assembly processes prior to each continental assembly. It is understood that there will be differences in approach that take account of the established practices, cultural and language elements, geography, and logistics of each continent.
This Continental Stage is marked by the Document for the Continental Stage (DCS), which will be written after careful reflection on the fruits of the first stage from syntheses of all of the Episcopal Conferences of the Universal Church, as well as the Eastern Churches, and groups such as Religious Institutes, Lay Movements and so on. The DCS will be released on October 27 at 11:15am Irish time.
The speakers will be:
– His Eminence Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod;
– His Eminence Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.J., archbishop of Luxembourg; general rapporteur of the 16th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (by remote link);
– Professor Anna Rowlands, associate professor of Catholic social thought and practice, University of Durham;
– Fr. Giacomo Costa, S.J., consultor of the Secretariat General of the Synod;
– The Reverend Msgr. Piero Coda, secretary general of the International Theological Commission.
The press conference will be livestreamed in the original language on the Vatican News YouTube Channel, at https://www.youtube.com/c/VaticanNews.
