The Vatican has announced the list of delegates to the Synod of Bishops on youth people, faith and vocational discernment, including the Canadian delegation of bishops and a group of youth observers from Salt and Light Television in Toronto.
Pope Francis’ appointees to the Oct. 3-28 synod include Canadian Cardinal Gerald LaCroix of Quebec and U.S. Cardinals Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, and Blase J. Cupich of Chicago.
Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, and U.S. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, will be synod members by virtue of their Vatican posts.
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops also elected Archbishop Luc Cyr of Sherbrooke, Quebec; Montreal Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Dowd; Bishop Lionel Gendron of Saint-Jean-Longueuil, Quebec; and Bishop Stephen A. Jensen of Prince George, British Columbia.
Pope Francis also named dozens of “collaborators” and “observers” to the synod, including 30 women and several young adults. They participate in the synod discussions, but do not have a vote on the final proposals given to the Pope.
Four young people working at Canada’s Salt and Light Television also were named observers. They are Emilie Callan, who was a delegate to the pre-synod meeting; Julian Paparella, a theology student; Prevain Devandran, operations manager at Salt and Light TV; Allyson Kenny, associate producer at Salt and Light TV.
Pope Francis added, in total, cardinals from 14 countries, bishops from another 10 nations, as well as 10 priests who be full voting members of the gathering.
Pope Francis also named as full voting members of the synod Blessed Sacrament Father Robert Stark, director of the Office of Social Ministry of the Diocese of Honolulu, and Canadian Jesuit Father Michael Czerny, undersecretary of the Vatican Section for Migrants and Refugees.
The bishops of the Maronite Catholic Church elected Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles to be a synod member. And the bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic Church elected Bishop Bryan J. Bayda of Saskatoon.
The Union of Superiors General elected 10 synod members – eight priests and two religious brothers – including U.S. Brother Robert I. Schieler, superior general of the De La Salle Christian Brothers, and Canadian Father Michael Brehl, superior general of the Redemptorists.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had elected as their delegates to the synod: Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, conference president; Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, USCCB vice president; Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Auxiliary Bishop Robert E. Barron of Los Angeles.