Archbishop at month-long synod

Archbishop Paul Cremona is in Rome to take part in a bishops' synod on the theme 'The Word of God in the Life and the Mission of the Church'.

The synod starts tomorrow with Mass led by Pope Benedict XVI at the basilica of St Paul Outside-the-Walls and ends on October 26 with a ceremony at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

The Pope has also invited three special guests to address the synod. Tomorrow, Chief rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen of Haifa, Israel, will talk to the assembly about how Jewish people read and interpret sacred scripture.

"This will be the first time that a rabbi and a non-Christian has addressed the synod fathers," synod general secretary Archbishop Nikola Eterovic said.

Attending the assembly will be 253 priests from 113 Episcopal conferences, 13 Eastern Catholic Churches, 25 officials of the Roman Curia and the Union of Superiors General.

Representatives of other Churches and ecclesial communities have also been invited to participate, including the Greek Orthodox Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Anglican Communion, the World Luther an Federation, the Church of the Disciples of Christ, the World Council of Churches, the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Patriarchates of Moscow, Serbia and Romania.