Ninth Ordinary General Assembly - The Consecrated Life and Its Role in the Church and in the World (2-29 October 1994)
Ninth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
In Session: 2 - 29 October 1994
Synod Fathers: 245
Topic: “The Consecrated Life and Its Role in the Church and in the World”
On 30 December 1991, the Holy Father announced the convocation of a synodal Assembly to consider the topic of consecrated life. Some saw it as a logical completion of the treatment of the states of life in the Church begun in the previous two Ordinary Assemblies on the laity and the priesthood respectively. The period of prayer and reflection prior to the synodal Assembly was particularly fruitful, eliciting a widespread exchange not simply within the institutes of consecrated life and the societies of apostolic life, but also within national and international bodies, not to mention various individual and group initiatives with the Church’s hierarchy and various departments of the Roman Curia. The Synod Fathers touched on a vast number of subjects associated with the topic and listened attentively to the many interventions made by the great number of auditors. Particularly noteworthy during this Synodal gathering was the number of Synod Fathers members from religious congregations, the appointment of a woman and man religious as Adjunct Special Secretaries, as well as the significantly increased number of women and men from the consecrated life as Experts and Auditors. The Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Vita consecrata” was published on 25 March 1996.
President-Delegates
S.Em.R. il Sig. Card. Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Prefetto della Congregazione per gli Istituti di vita consacrata e le Società di vita apostolica (Vaticano)
S.Em.R. il Sig. Card. John Joseph O’Connor, Arcivescovo di New York (USA)
S.Em.R. il Sig. Card. Edward Bede Clancy, Arcivescovo di Sydney (Australia)
General Secretary
S.E.R. Mons. Jan Pieter Schotte, C.I.C.M., Arcivescovo tit. di Silli (Vaticano)
General Rapporteur
S.Em.R. il Sig. Card. George Basil Hume, O.S.B., Arcivescovo di Westminster (Gran Bretagna)
Special Secretary
R.P. Marcello Zago, O.M.I, Superiore Generale della Congregazione Missionari Oblati della Beata Vergine Maria Immacolata (Italia)
Documents of the Ninth Ordinary General Assembly
- Esortazione Apostolica post-sinodale Vita consecrata (25 marzo 1996)
[Cinese, Francese, Inglese, Italiano, Latino, Portoghese, Spagnolo, Tedesco]
- OMELIA DI GIOVANNI PAOLO II - APERTURA SOLENNE DELLA IX ASSEMBLEA GENERALE ORDINARIA DEL SINODO DEI VESCOVI. 2 ottobre 1994
- [ IT ]