Vatican City: A Catholic-Hindu couple from India is among 18 married couples Pope Francis has selected from around the world to attend the Synod of Bishops on the family scheduled for next month.
They are among more than 360 participants of the October Oct. 4-25 gathering.
The Vatican released the list of synod participants and papal appointees on Sept. 15.
Penny and Ishwar Bajaj from Mumbai are the Indians representing married couples at the historic meeting.
Other Indian participants are Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishops Filipe Neri of Goa and Daman and Dominic Jala of Shillong and Bishop Selvister Ponnumuthan of Punalur. They would represent the Latin rite in the country.
The Syro-Malabar Church representatives are Cardinal George Alencherry, Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur and Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt of Palai. The Syro-Malankara Church would be represented by its Major Archbishop, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, who is also the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. Prof Jacob M Abraham, who was the president of the Malankara Catholic Association, will also attend the Synod, Church spokesperson Father Bovas Mathew told Matters India.
The synod will have 166 members elected by national bishops’ conferences, 22 heads of Eastern Catholic churches, 25 heads of Vatican congregations and councils and 10 heads of men’s religious orders. The pope has appointed an additional 45 synod fathers to attend the meet, report agencies.
This ordinary synod will have more participants than the extraordinary synod that met for 15 days last year. The synod will have nine additional leaders of Eastern Catholic churches and six more “fraternal delegates” from the Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant communities.
The pope also named 45 voting members of the synod , 26 more than last year’s. He also appointed 51 observers and 23 experts, including the 18 married couples. Last year, 38 observers and 16 experts, including 14 couples, attended.
Only one Asian is among the voting members appointed by the Pope. Nearly half of them are from Europe, 15 from the Americas, three from Africa and two from Oceania.
The papal appointees include Monsignor Pio Pinto, dean of the Roman Rota, a Vatican-based tribunal that deals mainly with marriage cases.
Among 51 observers and 23 experts appointed by the pope, the majority are laymen and laywomen, including 18 married couples. The 42 men and 32 women, who will not have voting rights, represent a more geographically diverse mix with fairly equal representation for Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East, and a slightly higher number from Europe.