The Synod Office, the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and the Women’s International Union of Superiors General have joined forces not only to encourage prayers, but to collect them, share them and build a global community of people praying for the Synod and each other.
Their efforts are built on two main platforms: an updated version of Click to Pray, an app and website run by the prayer network, and www.prayforthesynod.va. Both were unveiled Oct. 19 at a Vatican news conference.
The Catholic Church is convoked in Synod, with the first phase of the journey, ‘For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission,’ solemnly opening on the 9th – 10th of October 2021 in Rome and on the following 17th of October in each particular church.
With this convocation, Pope Francis invites the entire Church to reflect on a theme that is decisive for its life and mission: “It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.”
This journey follows in the wake of the Church’s ‘renewal’ proposed by the Second Vatican Council: by journeying together and reflecting together on the journey that has been made, the Church will be able to learn through Her experience which processes can help Her to live communion, to achieve participation, and open Herself to mission.
“Our ‘journeying together’ is, in fact, what most effectively enacts and manifests the
nature of the Church as the pilgrim and missionary People of God,” explains Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops.
“We are touching something divine, and prayer is essential.”
The Superiors General are soliciting prayers for the synod and its preparation process from members of women’s and men’s monasteries and contemplative communities: on October 31, those prayers will be posted on the website, and beginning November 1, anyone can submit a prayer.
The prayers also will be posted on the Click to Pray 2.0 app and can be added to the websites of religious orders, parishes or dioceses with an RSS feed.
In addition to carrying prayers for the Synod, especially during the preparatory phase that began in early October, the upgraded Click to Pray app has added features, including notifications so that people can set it to remind them to pray at the time they choose each morning, midday and night.