Two years ago Pope Benedict XVI announced that he was calling for a world synod of bishops to be held in Rome this month. The bishops from around the world who have been chosen to represent their peers are discussing the theme: “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.” The most recent synod was held in 2005 when the bishops focused on the Eucharist in the life of the church. Back then participants suggested that the importance of the Bible would be a good topic for a future synod. The Pope obviously concurred.

Our Holy Father is very hopeful that the synod will help Catholics realize how important the Bible is in our lives and in the life of the church, particularly since all that we are and all that we do are based on the word of God. Last year our Holy Father stated that the Bible “requires special veneration and obedience” by all Christians and a common commitment to following its teaching to help persons overcome their divisions. Pope Benedict went on to say that God’s word was given to us to “enlighten our path in the earthly pilgrimage toward the full realization of the kingdom of God.”

This year’s gathering of bishops in Rome is the Twelfth Ordinary Synod since the end of the Second Vatican Council in 1965. The first synod took place in 1967 and focused on the Preservation and Strengthening of the Catholic Faith. It resulted in the implementation of several recommendations, including the establishment of an international commission of theologians to assist the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Revision of the Code of Canon Law of 1917, a work completed with its promulgation in 1983, certain procedures relating to mixed marriages which were approved by Pope Paul VI in 1970, and various aspects of liturgical reform which were eventually implemented in 1969. In all, 197 bishops participated in that first ordinary synod.

Since that first ordinary synod in 1967, 11 more have been held: in 1971, on the Ministerial Priesthood and Justice in the World, 1974, on Evangelization in the Modern World, 1977, on Catechesis, 1980, on the Christian Family, 1983, on Penance and Reconciliation, 1987, on the Vocation and Mission of the Laity in the Church and in the World, 1990, on the Formation of Priests, 1994, on Consecrated Life, 2001 on Bishops and 2005, on the Eucharist. Intermittently there have also been several extraordinary synods, especially between 1995 and 1999 when Pope John Paul II gathered special assemblies of bishops from Lebanon, America, Asia, Oceania and Europe.

It was Pope Paul VI back in 1965 who established the Synod of Bishops as a permanent institution in response to the desire of the bishops of the Second Vatican Council to keep alive the spirit of collegiality which was such a hallmark of the experience bishops enjoyed during Vatican II. The word “synod” comes from two Greek words: syn meaning “together” and hodos meaning “road” or “way.” A synod is a kind of “coming together,” a religious meeting at which the bishops gather around the Holy Father and have an opportunity to interact with each other in the common pursuit of pastoral solutions which are valid and applicable in the church across the globe. Pope John Paul often referred to the synod as “a particularly fruitful expression and instrument of the collegiality of bishops.”

Who are the members of the synod? Those who participate at an ordinary synod are patriarchs, major archbishops and others from the Eastern Catholic Churches, bishops chosen from their individual national conferences, some bishops from nations that do not have a conference of their own, religious representing clerical religious institutes and the heads of the departments of the Roman Curia. Every episcopal conference with more than 100 members is represented by four bishops. This year’s representatives from the United States include Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., and Daniel Cardinal DiNardo of Houston/Dallas. We bishops make our recommendations at one of our November meetings and eventually the Holy Father ratifies those whom we have chosen. I was delighted to learn that both of my predecessors would be participating in the synod, William Cardinal Levada as one of the Presidents and Francis Cardinal George as an American representative. You can be sure that the voice of Portland will be heard!

This year’s Synod began on Sunday, Oct. 5 and will conclude Oct. 26. But the work of the Synod continues for months and sometimes years thereafter. At the end of each ordinary synod a special council, comprised of 15 members, 12 of them elected from the synod, meets twice each year to examine the proposals of the synod, prepare the work for the next synod, offer advice about the proposals and deal with whatever questions the Holy Father may assign to the council. All this work eventually results in a special synodal exhortation which comes from the Pope himself. Such documents are all extremely helpful in guiding the pastors of the church in carrying out their responsibilities as teachers of the faith.

In order to help the bishops prepare for this year’s synod, a working document was released by Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, which calls for a creative pastoral response to people’s hunger for the Word of God. The synod document strongly rejected a fundamentalist approach to the Bible. Furthermore, it stated that a key challenge would be an effort to clarify for our Catholic people the relation of Scripture to science.

The preparatory work strongly encouraged a trend among Catholic people towards reading of the Scripture. But it went on to say that Sunday Masses, where most people encounter Scripture, may call for better coordination of the readings and homilies. I remember how people who participated in the small-group discussions during Disciples in Mission here in the archdiocese felt that homilies were better in those years. My observation is that homilies as delivered were much the same. They were received more effectively because people had read the Scriptures before they came to church on Sunday and were ready to learn how the homilist would speak about what they had already read in Scripture.

The simple truth of the matter is that there are still too many of us Catholics who do not read the Bible alone or in groups. Evangelical Protestants are way ahead of us on that score. Please pray for the success of the synod. I am hopeful that, as a result of the synod, more and more Catholics will read the Bible more readily and, in particular, look over the Sunday Scriptures before coming to Mass each week. After all, the good book can only be good for us when we come to know its contents!