Synod Enters the Homestretch

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 22, 2001 (Zenit.org).- As the monthlong Synod of Bishops entered its final week, a draft of final proposals that will be presented to John Paul II was read in his presence today.

The propositions, as they are technically called, are the final objective of the synod, which is focused on the figure of the bishop. The Holy Father will base his postsynodal apostolic exhortation on the proposals.

The proposals read this morning combined all the propositions written by the 12 linguistic working groups. They included the contributions of the 280 participants.

The final summation of proposals was entrusted to Cardinal Edward Egan, general relator; Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, assistant general relator; and Italian Bishop Marcello Semeraro.

The 285 proposals were reduced to 68, after repetitions were edited out. The list was written in Latin.

This afternoon, and for the next two days, the bishops meet again in working groups to make final changes in the draft.

On Friday, the reworked proposals will be presented to the assembly. The bishops will vote yes or no -- "placet" or "non placet" -- for each proposal.

On Saturday morning, John Paul II will close the synodal assembly with a solemn Mass.