VATICAN CITY (CNS) –On the eve of a three-day spiritual retreat for participants in the assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis prayed that members of the church may embrace silence to listen to the voice of God and one another.
“Silence, in the ecclesial community, makes fraternal communication possible, where the Holy Spirit draws together points of view,” the pope said to members of the synod, Christian leaders and young people in St. Peter’s Square Sept. 30.
“To be synodal is to welcome one another like this, in the knowledge that we all have something to share and to learn, gathering together to listen to the spirit of truth in order to know what the Lord is saying to the churches.”
Synod participants were scheduled to spend three days together at a spiritual retreat outside Rome before the synod assembly formally opens Oct. 4.
Seated before the San Damiano cross, in front of which St. Francis of Assisi said he heard Jesus tell him to “rebuild my church,” Pope Francis prayed that “the synod be a ‘kairos’ (moment) of fraternity, a place where the Holy Spirit will purify the church from gossip, ideologies and polarization.”
Alongside Pope Francis were the leaders of 12 Christian churches and communities.