Bangladesh Catholic Church started consultations in every parish in preparation for the forthcoming Synod of Bishops in Rome in 2023.
"We started Synodal consultations in every parish. We have discussed how the theme of Synod: communion, participation and mission have relevance and practicality in our Church," said Dinajpur diocesan Bishop Sebastian Tudu, the chairman of the Catholic Bishops' Commission for Evangelization and Promotion of Pontifical Mission Societies.
Bishop Tudu stated that diocesan teams would visit all the parishes in every village to seek feedback from the faithful on how the Church can become more participatory.
Unique prayer cards for the fruitful process of the synod are distributed to every parish in Bangladesh.
"The Bangladesh Church realizes that the synodal process will positively impact building up a unified Church working together. The synod helps us to raise awareness among the people on how the people of God can journey together in the process," the prelate said.
Bangladesh's Rajshahi diocese inaugurated a preparatory and direction seminar on the synodal Church at Christo Jyoti Pastoral Center on November 16. It was a diocesan level seminary to begin the synodal journey in communion, participation and mission.
Over 125 laypeople joined the seminar in the Rajshahi diocese. Rajshahi Bishop Gervas Rozario, Vicar General Father Emmanuel K. Rozario and 46 Priests, 25 Nuns, one religious Brother attended the event. Every parish had sent a male and female representative for the seminar.
"In the current complex situation of the modern world, the Catholic Church is facing many questions, challenges and crises for the people and the Catholic faith in teaching about religion and morality," stated the Vicar General Father Emmanuel K. Rozario.
Father Emmanuel stated what Pope Francis said about the synodal process. "The Pope has called on the entire Catholic Church to adopt the synodal process to listen to the people and discern the Holy Spirit to make right decision to walk on the path together."
Bishop Gervas Rozario revealed the profound meaning of the word synod: Synod is an ancient, traditional and respected word of the Church. It points to the path where Godly people are walking.
"At the same time, it (synod) refers to the Lord Jesus' saying, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6) and it is true that Christians or his followers were originally called followers of the way."
On the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Bishops' Synodal, Pope Francis announced that "in the world, we live in and the world we are called to love and serve, despite the inconsistencies here, the Church is required to be a helper in all aspects of its mission. The call to do so is to extend support to the entire God's people."
Diocese of Rajshahi, Bishop Gervas Rozario inaugurated the walk of the Synodal Church and preparatory activities for Synod.
The Church in Bangladesh has started a diocesan-level Synodal process for clergy, religious and laypeople, with bishops looking forward that the consultations will help local churches become genuinely participatory.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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