Pope announces ecumenical prayer vigil on eve of October Synod
January 16, 2023
Following his Sunday Angelus address on January 15, Pope Francis announced that an ecumenical prayer vigil will precede the October 2023 Synod on synodality in Rome.
“The path towards Christian unity and the path of the synodal conversion of the Church are linked,” Pope Francis told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to announce that on Saturday 30 September, in St. Peter’s Square, an ecumenical prayer vigil will take place, with which we will entrust to God the work of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.”
“For the young people who come to the vigil, there will be a special program throughout the weekend, organized by the Taizé Community,” the Pope continued. “As of now, I invite all brothers and sisters of all the Christian denominations to participate in this gathering of the People of God.”
Following the Pope’s remarks, the Taizé Community—an ecumenical French monastic community founded in 1940 by Brother Roger Schütz—announced that “this gathering of the people of God, which will be called ‘Together’, has been prepared over the past months by representatives of around 50 church groupings from many different denominations. Further information will be given over the coming days about the preparation of this gathering.”
The Vatican’s official English translation of the Pope’s remarks includes a significant error. Pope Francis announced that the ecumenical prayer vigil will take place on “30 settembre”; the Vatican’s official English translation mistranslates “30 settembre” as “30 January.”
[Editor’s note: Following this CWN report, the error in the Vatican’s English translation was corrected.]
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