Tight secrecy imposed on Synod participants, even after Synod’s conclusion
September 19, 2024
» Continue to this story on General Secretariat of the Synod
CWN Editor's Note: Following a recent press conference, the General Secretariat of the Synod has released the calendar, list of participants, and regulations for the upcoming session of the Synod on synodality—including an imposition of tight secrecy on Synod participants, even after the Synod’s conclusion, and even with respect to their own words at the Synod.
Article 24 of the Synod regulations provides:
In order to guarantee freedom of expression to each and every one regarding their own thought, and to ensure a serene common discernment, which is the main task entrusted to the Assembly, each of the Participants is bound to confidentiality and discretion with regard to both their own interventions and the interventions of other Participants, whether delivered in the General Congregations or in the Working Groups.
This obligation remains in force even after the Synodal Assembly has ended. All Participants are forbidden from recording, filming and/or disseminating interventions given either during the General Congregations or in the Working Groups.
The regulations make it difficult, if not impossible, for a Synod participant to supplement, correct, or refute the Vatican communication team’s narrative about the Synod—even if the participant believes that the communications team has distorted his or her own words. The regulations stand in marked contrast to the relative transparency of the Synod of Bishops under St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, during which the Vatican routinely published the Synod fathers’ interventions (speeches).
The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
