“The forms of responsibility for the Church may change but the source of all the renewal and the hope remains immutable: Jesus Christ. We want to put this responsibility into practice together with the Christians of the other Churches and Communities and all people of good will”: that was the wish expressed by Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, president of the plenary Synod of the Czech Republic, the first session of which was held at Velehrad from 6 to 12 July 2003. Promoted “to evaluate the course to be pursued by the Czech Church in the years ahead”, the Synod was attended among others by Bohemian and Moravian representatives, delegates of the laity, male and female religious, deacons and priests, deans of the faculties of theology, superiors of seminars, and all the bishops of the country. “We expressed our views said the cardinal in a press release after the end of the first session on the Instrumentum Laboris with the title “Let’s not be robbed of our future”. Over 200 observations and suggestions were made. Memory of the past was not lacking, either, because we can build the future only by recognising our own mistakes. That’s why concluded Cardinal Vlk we will continue to work especially in the field of mission and evangelization, in the analysis of the situation of society and the Church, in the field of formation of the laity, priests, youth and families. We will devote ourselves in particular to religious vocations. The Synod will also formulate the norms for the life of the Church and, after its conclusion, urge the organization of diocesan synods.
