Cardinal Grech: Every Local Church Has a Gift the Universal Church Needs

Every local Church possesses unique gifts that the universal Church cannot afford to lose, Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, told participants at the 12th Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) on July 24.

Speaking on "Pathways for the Implementation of the Synod" in the Vanda Room of Hotel Mulia, Cardinal Grech urged bishops from across Asia to see the implementation of the Synod on Synodality not as an administrative exercise but as an opportunity for local Churches to enrich one another through what he described as an "exchange of gifts."

"No Church possesses every gift, and no Church is without gifts to offer," he said.

For Cardinal Grech, that conviction lies at the heart of the synodal journey. Rather than expecting every diocese to adopt identical pastoral approaches, he said the Church is called to recognize and share the distinctive charisms, missionary experiences, cultural traditions, and spiritual wisdom that the Holy Spirit has entrusted to each local Church.

He cautioned against measuring the Synod's success by the number of reports, pastoral plans, or documents it produces.

"The objective is not simply to produce another document," he said. "The implementation phase seeks to promote a genuine exchange of gifts among the Churches."

Cardinal Grech explained that the publication of the Synod's Final Document did not mark the end of the process but the beginning of a new phase. The task now belongs to dioceses and local Churches, which are invited to discern how the Synod's vision can take root in their own pastoral realities.

That process, he emphasized, is fundamentally spiritual rather than administrative.

While documents remain important, they exist to serve the Church's life, not replace it. Authentic synodal renewal, he said, grows through prayer, listening, dialogue, discernment, and relationships rooted in communion.

Throughout his presentation, Cardinal Grech repeatedly returned to the image of the Church as a communion of Churches, where each local Church contributes something essential to the life of the whole.

He noted that the missionary resilience of minority Churches in Asia, for example, offers valuable lessons to Churches elsewhere that are facing secularization or other pastoral challenges. At the same time, Asian Churches can also learn from the experiences and pastoral initiatives emerging from Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Oceania.

"The relationship is reciprocal," he said, explaining that every Church is both a teacher and a learner.

For Cardinal Grech, this mutual enrichment is one of the clearest expressions of the Church's catholicity.

Looking ahead to the 2028 Ecclesial Assembly, Cardinal Grech described the coming years as a time of reception, discernment, and mutual learning. The assembly, he explained, will gather the experiences and insights emerging from local Churches around the world, allowing them to enrich one another and strengthen the Church's communion and mission.

He concluded by reminding participants that the Church ultimately grows not through structures alone but through relationships shaped by the Gospel.