Second day of the Synod – eventful for the Vicariate

 The day began with the gathering of the Synod Fathers, experts and auditors in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI. Morning prayer was celebrated according the Coptic rite and the meditation was led by Coptic Bishop Youhanna Golta from Egypt. He focused on what the Church offers the world: love.

The first two speakers in the morning session were Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education. The two cardinals were followed by a long line of Synod Fathers, each one addressing the Synod for five minutes. Father David, Latin Patriarchal Vicar for the Hebrew Speaking Catholics, was speaker number four of the morning, sandwiched between Maronite Bishop Ad Abikaram from Sydney, Australia and Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk, Iraq.

During the afternoon session, Patriarch Fouad Twal addressed the Synod, reminding one and all of the importance of the Mother Church of Jerusalem. He also focused on the Church of Jerusalem as a Church of Calvary. Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of the Holy Land, reminded the Synod that the Holy Land cannot be described only from the point of view of the ongoing conflict but rather that it must be defined according to its vocation: the space for Christian life. Furthermore, he insisted, the Christians have a vocation to be a small minority and this cannot always be seen as a tragedy.

One of the hot subjects of the day was the situation of the huge communities of foreign workers in most of the countries of the Middle East, the difficult conditions in which they live and the pastoral care that the Church provides. Among the Synod Fathers are bishops from the Philippines and India, who have insisted on the care that is needed for their faithful spread throughout the Middle East. Many other bishops gave their testimonies and their points of view: from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Iran. The Holy Father was present for much of the time and the discussions that came at the end of the day were both direct and fraternal.