26th October, the third day of the segment ‘Envisaging New Pathways’ of the FABC Press Conference began with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist by His Excellency Most Reverend Mathias RI Iong-hoon, Bishop of Suwon, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea. The President of the day’s sessions, H.E. Oswald Cardinal Gracias, led the representatives in the Adsumus, and the morning prayer, hosted by Korea, was led by the video prepared by the Secretariat of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea.
H.E. Cardinal Gracias explained that the day would include discussion on the first drafts of the Final Message and of the schema of the Final Document, as well as discussion of the FABC Structure.
Prof. Susan Pascoe, AM, member of the Taskforce for the Continental Stage of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, speaking about the next stage of the Synod on synodality, explained three key points: a recap of what had happened so far, the continental stage of the Synod - how it was being carried out - and how it will go forward, through the FABC Assembly. Highlighting the processes and purpose of the
Continental stage, Prof. Pascoe emphasized how ‘the document will truly represent the voice of the people of God’.
Next, the first draft of the Final Message - which will be the message from the FABC General Conference to all the peoples of Asia - was introduced, and participants were invited to give detailed feedback and suggestions on the Message. Following that, the groups of the previous day presented short reports on their topics of discussion, in the context of ‘envisaging new pathways’.
The General Schema of the Final Document of the FABC General Conference was introduced by Bishop Pablo Virgilio Siongco David, member of the Commission on the Final Document, and was followed by questions, suggestions and interventions by the participants.
Next, participants divided into groups based on country and region, to discuss the restructuring of the FABC, based on a few key points; dreams, changes, areas of collaboration, etc, with each group sharing a report on their discussion. The day concluded with a short prayer, led by Bishop Allwyn D’Silva.