Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops begins tomorrow. Apologies if someone posted this already elsewhere. Announced back in Dec. 2009 to be held at the urgent request of the Bishops.

I'm looking forward to seeing pictures/video of the liturgical celebrations.

http://www.lpj.org/index.php?option=com_...133&lang=en

Inauguration of the Special Assembly for the Middle East

At 9.30 this morning, 10 October 2010, XXVIII Sunday in ordinary time, in St. Peter’s Basilica, at the tomb of the Apostle Peter, the Holy Father Benedict XVI presided at the Solemn Concelebration of the Eucharist with the Synodal Fathers, for the Inauguration of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops, to be held in the Synod Hall of the Vatican until 24 October 2010, on the theme: The Catholic Church in the Middle East:Communion and Witness. "Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul" (Acts 4:32).

The entrance into the Basilica began at 9.15 with the singing of the Laudes regiae. The Concelebrants, led by the Masters of Ceremony took their places around the Altar of Confession. Then Their Eminences and the Components of the Presidency of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops joined the Holy Father in the entrance procession.

Concelebrating with the Pope were 177 Synod Fathers (19 Cardinals, 9 Patriarchs, 72 Archbishops, 67 Bishops and 10 Priests) and 69 Collaborators.

At the start of the Concelebration, during the Rite of the Aspergillum presided over by the Holy Father, the choir and assembly sang “Asperges me”.

The Presidents Delegate H. B. Card. Nasrallah Pierre SFEIR, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, Bishop of Joubbé, Sarba and Jounieh of the Maronites (LEBANON), ad honorem, H. B. Card. Emmanuel III DELLY, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans (IRAQ) , ad honorem, H. Em. Card. Leonardo SANDRI, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches (VATICAN CITY), H. B. Ignace Youssif III YOUNAN, Patriarch of Antioch of the Syrians (LEBANON); General Relator H. B. Antonios NAGUIB, Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts (ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT);General Secretary H. Exc. Mons. Nikola ETEROVIĆ, Titular Archbishop of Cibalae (VATICAN CITY); Special Secretary H. Exc. Mons. Joseph SOUEIF, Archbishop of Cyprus of the Maronites (CYPRUS) all joined at the Altar for the Eucharistic Prayer.

The first reading was in English, the responsorial Psalm in Italian and the second reading in French. The Gospel was proclaimed in Latin and in Greek. The Prayer of the Faithful was in English, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew, Farsi. The songs “Ubi Caritas”, in Latin, and “Bread of Life”, in Arabic, accompanied the Offertory; “Beati Pacifici”, in Latin, and “My Soul Thirsts for You”, in Arabic, accompanied Communion. At the end of the celebration, the Marian antiphon “Ave Regina Caelorum” was sung.

Some pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/medialpj/SynodeLaConcelebrationEucharistiqueAvecLesPeresSynodaux#

The mass itself from Benedictxvi.tv - http://benedictxvi.tv/video/2010/870-10-10-2010-HQ-Sinod-open-all.wmv

A lot more pictures from the website of the Syriac Archdiocese of Aleppo (Syria) - http://syrcata.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4314&lang=ara

There is a nice picture on the blog of Luke Coppen at the Catholic Herald, showing some of the Synod Fathers: His Beatitude Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis, Archbishop and Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church; His Beatitude Gregorios III, Patriarch of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church; and His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX, Catholicos and Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church. The blog also has links to texts and commentaries.

Latin Catholic and ag_vn-- Thanks for the links!



Thanks for this! I was watching the Mass at 1:00am Sunday morning. There's an awful lot of voice over in this link. The live feed I was watching had a female interpreting in English with sparse voice over. During the homily long periods of the Italian before she came in with the English translation.

I fell asleep during the long silence after the homily, probably a good thing LOL. I'll be glad to see the rest in the Mass. Is there an English language version? The live feed was English translation. Maybe it's just not archived yet. Vatican TV

Anyone see a location where there is more coverage of their sessions? This sound bite Discussions Begin at Middle East Synod mentions that Patriarch Antonios Naguib gave a press conference after their first session.

I'm curious about what I gather is a Litany of the Saints during the processional. The music they are chanting isn't something I'm familiar with.

There is a booklet with the liturgy of the Opening Mass available here.

The Litany of Saints that you refer to is called the "Laudes Regiæ" or "Royal Praises". It is used on solemn occasions, such as the inauguration of a Pope or the opening of a Synod. The origins of the Royal Praises go back to the Coronation Mass of the Holy Roman Emperor.

The list of saints can be modified for the occation. Notable among the saints invoked at this Mass were St. Frumentius, St. Gregory the Illuminator, St. Sharbel (Makhlouf) and St. Nimatullah (al-Hardini).

On October 5, 2010, the list of members of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church, which is to take place in the Vatican on October 10-24, 2010, was published. The members were individually appointed by Pope Benedict XVI. The list consists of 16 people – cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and priests. Among them are the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Patriarch Lubomyr, and Bishop Bohdan Dzyurakh, the Secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC.

www.radiovaticana.org/ucr/Articolo.asp

This is a misunderstanding. You are referring to the 17 Synod Fathers chosen directly by the Pope: Members appointed by the Pope

The full list of Synod Fathers (which is much longer) is found here: List of Participants

Can these two threads on the same topic be combined?

The text of the presentation by the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops H.E. Most Rev Nikola Eterović appears here

Also, Joan Lewis, EWTN's Rome Bureau Chief has begun coverage on her blog Joan's Rome.



Also here at Vatican Information Service extracts of the English translation of His Beatitude Antonios Naguib, Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, Egypt, relator general of the synod "Relatio ante disceptationem", (report before the discussion).

Lots of pictures from the first day of the Synod, 11 October 2010:

http://syrcata.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4316&lang=ara
http://syrcata.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4317&lang=ara

I noticed that too, non-stop chatter.. I was near my mini-speakers and noticed that the voice over was only on one channel, as soon as I move the sound settings to one side (I think it was right) the commentary was muted.