(Vatican Radio) - According to the norms set down in the Ordo Synodi Episcoporum (cf. Articles 15 and 39), the Latin is the official text of the Final List of Propositions of Ordinary General Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops, which is submitted to the vote of the synod fathers and destined for the Supreme Pontiff, to whom it is dutifully consigned. By its very nature, this text is confidential and, therefore, not published out of respect for the consultative character of the synodal assembly.
On this occasion, with the kind permission of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, the provisional, unofficial English version, prepared under the auspices of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, is published.
In this regard, it is necessary to point out that the Propositiones result at a determined moment in the synodal process and may serve in a possible promulgation of a papal document, and do not detract from the richness found in the contents of the Lineamenta, Instrumentum laboris, the discussion in the synod hall, the Relatio ante disceptationem, the Relatio post disceptationem and the Message to the People of God (Nuntius). The work of the Small Groups has permitted a consensus at the synod, which took place in a atmosphere of intense episcopal communion cum Petro and sub Petro, as a result of prayer and listening to each other, even in the those moments of free discussion.