“Diocesan Teams Make the Church More Synodal,” Says Cardinal Filipe Neri at Vatican Jubilee

Vatican City, 25 October 2025 (CCBI): “The work of the Diocesan Synodal Team is not merely organizational, it is a ministry of communion,” said His Eminence Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrão, President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) and of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC).

 

Cardinal Ferrão was addressing an international gathering of Synodal Teams and participatory bodies during the Jubilee of Synodal Teams, which is being held in Rome from 24 to 26 October 2025.

 

Highlighting the vital role of synodality in the life of the Church, the Cardinal said that through listening, dialogue and prayerful discernment, the Diocesan Synodal Team helps the Local Church to grow in communion, foster participation, and renew its missionary commitment.

 

He emphasized that, when guided by the Holy Spirit and working closely with the Bishop, the Synodal Team becomes a living sign of a Church that walks together, seeks God’s will and responds with faith to the challenges of today’s world.

 

“The Diocesan Synodal Team,” Cardinal Ferrão concluded, “can help every baptized person to become a truly missionary disciple.”

 

By Dr. Stephen Alathara