Today, Friday October 26^th 2001, at 17:00, in the presence of the Holy Father, with the prayer Adsumus, the Twenty-fifth General Congregation was held for the voting of the Final List of Propositions and the conclusion of the X Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The President Delegate on duty was His Em. Card. Bernard AGRE, Archbishop of Abidjan.

This General Congregation concluded at 18:35 with the prayer Angelus Domini and the chanting of the Salve, Regina; 227 Fathers were present.

At the opening of the General Congregation the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops His Em. Card. Jan Pieter SCHOTTE, C.I.C.M. recalled that according to Art. 67 i., j., of Vademecum Sinody only for the voting of the Final List of Propositions, any Father unable to participate, is entitled to submit his duly signed ballot through a Synodal Father, and no-one else, who will hand it to one of the Assistants of the Secretariat, when the absent Father is called, saying "Abest. De mandato".

Afterwards, the voting of the Final list of the Propositions took place (with the formula "Placet" or "Non placet").

After the roll call according to the order of precedence (when his name is called each Father responds "Adsum" and hands his ballot to one of the Assistants of the General Secretariat), the Balloting Commission went into a room for the ballot counting procedures. This commission will draw up the minutes on the result of the vote; this will be given immediately to the Secretary General after being signed by all the scrutineers.

The results of the vote will be notified to the Synodal Fathers tomorrow, Saturday October 27^th 2001, during the Fraternal Meal of the Synodal Fathers with the Holy Father.

Then, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops notified the results of the second vote of the Post-Synodal Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.

The Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops notified the names of the elected Members of the Post-Synodal Council and the names of the Members nominated by the Holy Father:

Africa

1. H. Em. Card. Francis ARINZE, President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue (Vatican City)

2. H.E. Most Rev. John Olorunfemi ONAIYEKAN, Archbishop of Abuja, President of the Episcopal Conference (Nigeria)

3. H.E. Most Rev. Laurent MONSENGWO PASINYA, Archbishop of Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo, President of the "Symposium des Conferences Episcopales d'Afrique and de Madagascar" (S.C.E.A.M.)

America

1. H. Em. Card. Francis Eugene GEORGE, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago (United States of America)

2 H. Em. Card. Jorge Mario BERGOGLIO, S.J., Archbishop of Buenos Aires (Argentina)

3. H. Em.Card. Cláudio HUMMES, O.F.M., Archbishop of São Paulo (Brazil)

1. H.E. Most Rev. Orlando B. QUEVEDO, O.M.I., Archbishop of Cotabato, President of the Episcopal Conference (Philippines)

2. H.E. Most Rev. Henry Sebastian D'SOUZA, Archbishop of Calcutta (India)

3. H.E. Most Rev. George PELL, Archbishop of Sydney (Australia)

1. H. Em. Card. Godfried DANNEELS, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, President of the Episcopal Conference(Belgium)

2. H. Em. Card. Dionigi TETTAMANZI, Archbishop of Genoa (Italy)

3. H. Em. Card. Walter KASPER, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity (Vatican City)

1. H.B. Card. Lubomyr HUSAR, M.S.U., Archbishop Major of Lviv in the Ukraine (Ukraine)

2. H.E. Most Rev. Henryk MUSZY¼SKI, Archbishop of Gniezno (Poland)

3. H. Em. Card. Norberto RIVERA CARRERA, Archbishop of Mexico City (Mexico)

Upon the conclusion of the X Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops the President Delegate His Em. Card. Ivan DIAS, Archbishop of Bombay, addressed the following words of gratitude to the Holy Father:

Most Holy Father:

As the curtain now falls on the Tenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, on behalf of all the participants - Bishops, Superiors General, Auditors, Fraternal Delegates and Staff - I have the honour to express our sentiments of deep gratitude to Your Holiness for having convoked us to share in your "solicitude for all the Churches - sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum" (2 Cor 11:28) and to discuss the topic : The Bishop, Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the Hope of the World. We are indeed deeply touched by Your Holiness’ punctual and attentive presence at all the plenary sessions, and by your kind invitation to be guests at your table in the Apostolic Palace. Since gratitude is the memory of the heart, we shall be ever grateful to Your Holiness for these signs of communion and benevolence, as well as the expressions of your Petrine charism to "strengthen your brethren - confirm fratres tuos" (Lk 22:32).

Our Synodal deliberations entered on the identity of a bishop in the new millennium and on his many responsibilities as pastor of the flock entrusted to his care. We are encouraged by Your Holiness’ own example in this regard. We admire the way you sow the good seed of the Gospel untiringly in Rome and all over the world, and how you water it with your personal sacrifices and sufferings. We are confident that Your Holiness’ Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation - in response to the many interventions, so rich in content, made during the Synod sessions - will help bishops to be truly shepherds after the heart of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd.

Most Holy Father: As we Synod participants leave The Eternal City, we take with us many pleasant memories of the close fellowship we have enjoyed during the past four weeks, living "cor unum et anima una - with one mind and heart" (Acts 4:32) with our sisters and brothers who have come here from the five continents and belong to the Oriental and Latin Church traditions. The warm friendship and hospitality we have experienced during the Synod echoed the words of the psalmist: "Ecce quam bonum et quam iucundum habitare fratres in unum - Behold, how wonderful and pleasant it is to see brethren living together in harmony" (Ps 133:1). It made us all feel so proud to belong to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Among the fond memories that we are taking home with us is Your Holiness’ lighting the lamp in the new Synod Chapel, on the first day of our working sessions, with the flame taken from the Shrine of St. Gregory the Illuminator in Armenia and given to you by His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II. We assure you, Holy Father, that we shall carry this ecumenical flame in our hearts, and we shall pray with you that full Christian unity may be restored as soon as possible. Please God, when that days dawns this Synod Hall will become too small to contain all the Synod participants who will gather here in communion with the Bishop of Rome.

Your Holiness, we thank you for your authoritative Magisterium, for your inspiring love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, and for your strong pastoral leadership all throughout your pontificate. We promise you our unswerving loyalty and unceasing prayers. As we take our leave, we ask you t please continue remembering us in your daily prayers and to bless us, as well as the countries from which we come and all those entrusted to our pastoral care.

We take this occasion to sincerely thank the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Jan Schotte, his valiant team of experts and collaborators, and all those who have helped in any way to organize this General Assembly with such care and competence.

I now invite the Synod participants to rise and to join with me in expressing our best wishes to the Holy Father: God bless our Pope, the great, the good!

[00338-02.03] [nnnnn] [Original text: English]

Bulletin No. 33, with the Final Report of the information service for the X Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the Summary and the Index of the Bulletins published, will be published tomorrow, Saturday October 27^th 2001.

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