Rome (NEV / CELI), March 27, 2021 – The 2nd Session of the XXIII Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy (CELI) will be held from April 29 to May 1. Mercy is the word of the year 2021 and mercy is at the center of the 2nd session of the XXIII CELI Synod. The event theme will take place under the title “Continuity, change, future. Mercy as the Church’s responsibility”.
“There is still a lot of uncertainty about the future in this difficult situation linked to the pandemic”, says Heiner Bludau, CELI’s dean explaining the choice of the theme. “This also applies to our church. Reflection on this situation will be an important part of our Synod agenda. We must ask ourselves how we can contribute to society as a whole at this juncture”. The church, however, reiterates the dean, should not be considered only a social institution:“It is the community of those who believe in the triune God”.
The president of the Synod, Wolfgang Prader and his deputy Ingrid Pfrommer, together with the CELI Consistory, to protect the safety of all participants, have decided to hold the Synod online rather than face-to-face. One of the important aspects of the assembly will therefore be missing, that is the possibility of meeting with the other, of reciprocal exchange. However, the meeting will be accessible for the first time online and from home. Not only to all the CELI members, scattered in 15 communities throughout Italy from Brenner to Sicily, but also to all those interested (to register: www.chiesaluterana.it). “The pandemic is determining the preparations for this year’s Synod” – Prader emphasizes -. All the technical possibilities must be explored, the available platforms must be examined and tested in order to guarantee the Synodals a regular development of the work, in compliance with the Statute. I hope that we will be able to intensively discuss, albeit online, the most important and urgent issues, in order to be able to make good and forward-looking decisions”. The guest of honor of the second session of the XXIII Synod, on Friday 30 April, will be the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Pastor Martin Junge. Six working groups will be held on the second day of the Synod, also on Friday 30 April, with these themes: gender; digitization; young people; environment; the consequences of the pandemic and diaconate. Only six months ago, from 9 to 11 October 2020, the 1st Session of the XXIII Synod was held in Rome (with several months of delay due to Covid). This session had elected the new Synodal Presidium with Wolfgang Prader as president and Ingrid Pfrommer as vice president.
The Lutheran Evangelical Church in Italy (CELI) gathers 15 communities distributed throughout the peninsula. From immediate help to migrants and people in need, to raising awareness on issues such as equal opportunities, environmental protection, the fight against discrimination, “it is a church that makes its voice heard in society, which does not hold back and also intervenes on current affairs issues of a political, ethical and religious nature”. Numerous Italian taxpayers allocate their Eight per thousand to CELI year by year . CELI is a member of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy (FCEI).
