Announcement of a Synod on the Eucharist
The Holy See is soon expected to publish the exact theme - and perhaps the date of the forthcoming universal synod on Eucharist, thus officially launching its concrete preparation in the local Churches.
The broad outline of the synod, presented in the form of questions - the lineamenta - will then be sent to the local Churches. The bishops conferences will have to meet to answer questions and to send them to Rome. It will then be a question of compiling a working paper the instrumentum laboris - on the basis of which the future participants in the synod will work. The latter are named by the bishops conferences for the bishops, by the Union of Major Superiors for religious, and by John-Paul II for the particular guests. The heads of the Vatican dicasteries are automatically invited.
All these stages are long and the organizational delays sometimes unforeseeable. It is thus reasonable to think, Vatican representatives explain, that this synod will not begin before the end 2004, perhaps not until 2005. If John-Paul II should die before that, all the planning would cease as long as the new pope has confirmed the synod and its theme. It is, however, not very likely that this pastoral theme, of great concern to the universal Church, would not be confirmed by John-Pauls successor, Apic agency commented.
The publication of the disciplinary Instruction on the Eucharist, announced in the encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, is still being awaited. Certain individuals in the Vatican talk about a February release, unless it be at Easter or on Trinity Sunday
