By Roy Lagarde
THE Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) is moving forward with plans to establish a new office aimed at strengthening collaboration and synodality across the region’s diverse pastoral realities.
Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, archbishop of Goa and Damão in India, who just assumed the presidency of FABC, said the “Office for Synodal Transformation” aims to sustain the synodal impulse within the Church.
“We need to find ways to collaborate more effectively as dioceses, conferences, and between continents,” Ferrão said in a letter to FABC members.
“The sharing of ideas, resources and experiences will help us to move forward on the synodal path,” he said.
The proposed office, which will be discussed further at the FABC Central Committee meeting in March 2025, is envisioned as a key component in advancing the synodal journey across Asia.
The cardinal explained that its primary goals will include providing ongoing formation for bishops on synodality and facilitating resources sharing between regional conferences.
It will also seek to enhance coordination between FABC and other continental episcopal conferences, he added.
Ferrão is the current president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI).
In October 2024, during the second and final session of the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican, he was elected to represent Asia on the 17-member Ordinary Council of the Synod’s General Secretariat, alongside Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, the FABC’s new vice president.
The council, chaired by Pope Francis, plays a fundamental role in the implementation of this synodal process on synodality and preparing for the next Synod.
The Synod on Synodality was a multiyear consultation process involving Catholics from all levels of the Church, including diocesan, national, and continental stages, and culminated in two global assemblies at the Vatican.
Ferrão said it is now FABC’s task to find “creative ways” to implement the recommendations from the final documents of both the continental and global synods on synodality. – CBCP News
