Shaping Synodality in Europe

I. Liturgy: Embracing the World (14 September, starting at 15:00 H)

Everything begins with a fundamental attitude: In the liturgy, we celebrate that God speaks to humanity as friends, entering into our lives and drawing us into relationship with himself. Such friendship calls us not to withdraw, but to embrace the world God has created. When God turns toward the world, reality does not recede but comes near. In this light, we discover Baptism not merely as a rite of initiation, but as an empowerment to share in this divine embrace. We seek a liturgical practice that breathes this expansiveness and allows us to see the world through the loving eyes of God.

II. Transforming Europe: Listening to the Life of Our Continent (15 September)

Embracing the world we inhabit, we choose to face the European context with hope. We contemplate its realities – its rich cultural heritage alongside its wounds and challenges. We regard Europe as the cherished landscape where our shared life takes on meaning. A synodal Church does not turn away from conflict; it becomes a space of hope and attentive listening precisely where the divides run deepest.

III. Transforming the Church: Giving Shape to Mission (16 September)

How can such an attitude become a lasting way of life? We are learning to be a Church that consistently draws its missionary impulse from a baptismal ecclesiology. This is not about cosmetic adjustments to structures, but about embodying the form of ecclesial life envisioned by Vatican II. What do ministries look like that truly serve? What paths of discernment take every baptized person seriously? We shape structures not as ends in themselves, but as instruments that open spaces for living the missionary vision of Baptism in today’s Europe.

The symposium will conclude on 17 September with breakfast.

Our Goal:
Three days – a shared journey unfolding from celebrating the nearness of God to embracing the nearness of the world, and from there to shaping a synodal Church alive in mission. Together, let us chart this roadmap for synodality in Europe – a path of faith, courage, and hope.

We look forward to welcoming you in Wels (Austria).

MONDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER

Transforming the Word: Baptism as the Source of the Synodalization of a Church that Transforms

Individual arrival of participants / bus departure from the Hotels to Schloss Puchberg
For further details, please see the “Hotel & Shuttle Information” section below.

14:30 – Arrival

Finger food, refreshments, coffee

Moderation of the Day: Klara Csiszar (Austria/Romania) & Cardinal Ladislav Nemet (CCEE/Serbia)

16:00 – Welcome and Opening Ceremony

• Nathalie Becquart (France), Undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod
• Gintaras Grušas (Lithuania), Archbishop of Vilnius, President of CCEE
• Josef Marketz (Austria), Bishop of Klagenfurt, Austrian Bishop’s Conference
• Univ.-Prof. Dr. Klara A. Csiszar (Austria/Romania), KU Linz, Department of Synodality, Vice Rector of KU Linz

16:20 – Thematic Introductions

• Predrag Bukovec (Croatia/Austria) – Liturgy, Baptism & Synodality
• Xenia Sereghy (Hungary/Austria) – Ritual Diversity & Oriental Churches
• Robert Svatoň (Czech Republic) – The Common Path of all Christians

17:00 – Conversations in the Spirit

18:00 – Break

18:30 – Meditation with Pope Benedict XVI

•  Paul Michael Zulehner (Austria)

18:45 – Preparation for Holy Mass

19:00 – Holy Mass (Ladislav Cardinal Nemet SVD, Archbishop of Belgrade, Vice President of CCEE)

20:10 – Announcements

20:15 – Opening Reception

21:40 – Bus Departure to the Hotels

TUESDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER

Transforming Europe: How do we live the Gospel in today's Europe?

07:30 – Bus Departure from the Hotels to Schloss Puchberg

Moderation of the Day: Gabriele Eder-Cakl (Austria), Geert De Cubber (Belgium) & András Máté-Tóth (Hungary)

08:00 – Holy Mass (Gintaras Grušas, Archbishop of Vilnius, President of CCEE)

• Mass prepared by the Lithuanian Delegates

09:00 – Sharing: my Personal Perspective on Europe

09:15 – KEYNOTE ADDRESSES

• Tomáš Halík (Czech Republic): Listening to Europe
• Gabriele Eder-Cakl (Austria): Best Practices on Listening to Europe

10:15 – Europe's Key Issues Today

• Statements from the Regions:
   
  • The Digital World: Geert De Cubber (Belgium, language: German, FD 113 – tbc)
  • Ecumenism: Gjergj Meta (Albania, language: Italian, FD 23 – tbc)
  • War: Oksana Furman (Ukraine, language: Englisch, FD 2 – tbc)
  • Polarisation / Nationalism / Migration: Declan Hurley (Ireland, language: English, FD 53–56)
  • Catechumenate / Catechesis: Alexandre Joly (France, language: French, FD 58 – tbc)

10:45 – Break

11:15 – Conversation on the Tables on Europe's Key Issues

• Participants choose workshops by theme

12:00 – Lunch

14:15 – Collecting Insights from the Workshops

• Brief feedback from each workshop group

14:45 – Conversations in the Spirit

• Living the Gospel Today in Europe

15:45 – Break

16:15 – Fishbowl: Stop or Go – When and Why?

• What should stop in Europe? What should continue?
   
  • Helena Jeppesen-Spuhler (Switzerland)
  • Anabela Sousa (Portugal) – tbc
  • Gintaras Grušas (Lithuania, CCEE) – tbc
  • Csaba Török (Hungary) – tbc
  • Heiner Wilmer (Germany) – tbc

17:15 – How Europe Sounds When We Sing/Pray Together

• Common singing, prayers, blessings with Andreas Gassner (Cathedral Choir Director, Salzburg, Austria)

18:00 – Dinner

20:00 – Bus Departure to the Hotels

WEDNESDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER

Transforming the Church: What is being transformed in the Church when the true equality in dignity and activity of all the baptized is lived?

08:30 – Bus Departure from the Hotels to Schloss Puchberg

Moderation of the Day: Anna Hennersperger (Austria) & Csaba Török (Hungary)

09:00 – Prayer: Baptism and Equality

• Led by the Irish Delegates

09:15 – KEYNOTE

• Christoph Theobald SJ (France): Baptismal Existence and Baptismal Ecclesiology

10:00 – Questions from the Audience

10:15 – Break

10:45 – Conversations in the Spirit

• On the Baptismal Existence

12:00 – Preparation for Holy Mass

12:15 – HOLY MASS (Jean-Claude Cardinal Hollerich SJ, Archbishop of Luxembourg, Vice President of CCEE)

13:00 – Lunch

15:00 – KEYNOTE

• Myriam Wijlens (Netherlands/Germany): Baptismal Ecclesiology and Structures that Sustain

15:45 – Conversations in the Spirit

• On Structures that Sustain 

17:00 – Break

17:30 – Fishbowl

• What am I Taking Home – What has Changed within Me?

18:30 – CONCLUDING REMARKS: Review with Insights

• Univ.-Prof. Dr. Klara Csiszar (Austria/Romania) & Cardinal Ladislav Nemet (CCEE/Serbia): Presentation of collected insights and roadmap
• Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Fuchs (Austria/Germany), Rector of the KU Linz: Closing Remarks and Words of Appreciation

19:10 – Prayer with Blessing

19:30 – Gala Dinner

22:00 – Bus Departure

THURSDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER

Departure with God's Blessing

Living the Transforming Power of the Gospel in Today's Europe

06:30 – Breakfast at Hotels / 07:00 at Conference Venue

Individual departure of participants

09:00–11:00 – Evaluation Meeting of the Research Group with the Task Force

Words of Welcome

Sr Nathalie Becquart, a French Xavière sister, is Under-Secretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. Appointed by Pope Francis in 2021, she became the first woman with the right to vote in a Synod of Bishops – a milestone on the synodal path of the universal Church. In the opening Mass she offers her testimony after the Gospel, connecting our European gathering with the synodal journey of the whole Church.

Archbishop Gintaras Grušas has led the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE) as its President since 2021. Born in Washington, D.C., to Lithuanian parents and raised in the United States, he first worked as a computer specialist before following the call to the priesthood and returning to the homeland of his family. He has been Archbishop of Vilnius since 2013.
His biography connects continents, cultures and worlds – making him a credible witness that the Church in Europe can only journey together. This conference stands under his patronage. On Tuesday, 15 September, he presides at Holy Mass as main celebrant.

Bishop Josef Marketz is Bishop of the Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt and, within the Austrian Bishops' Conference, the bishop responsible for pastoral ministry. A Carinthian Slovene, he led the Caritas of his home diocese before his episcopal ordination in 2020 – closeness to people, especially to the poor, shapes his ministry to this day. In his person, the Church in Austria welcomes the European guests.

Univ. Prof. Dr. Klara Csiszar is professor of pastoral theology and Vice-Rector of the Catholic Private University of Linz, where she heads the Department of Synodality – the first of its kind in Europe. Born in Satu Mare, Romania, she carries the experience of a Church of the periphery into the heart of the European conversation and accompanies the synodal process on the continental level with passion and scholarly depth.

CCEE Presidency and Mass Celebrants

Cardinal Ladislav Nemet SVD is Archbishop of Belgrade and Vice-President of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE). Born in Vojvodina, a member of the Divine Word Missionaries and created cardinal by Pope Francis in 2024, he is a bridge-builder par excellence: between East and West, between minority and majority churches, between the many languages of his homeland and of Europe.

Archbishop Gintaras Grušas has led the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE) as its President since 2021. Born in Washington, D.C., to Lithuanian parents and raised in the United States, he first worked as a computer specialist before following the call to the priesthood and returning to the homeland of his family. He has been Archbishop of Vilnius since 2013.
His biography connects continents, cultures and worlds – making him a credible witness that the Church in Europe can only journey together. This conference stands under his patronage. On Tuesday, 15 September, he presides at Holy Mass as main celebrant.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ is Archbishop of Luxembourg and Vice-President of the CCEE. A Jesuit, he lived and taught in Japan for more than two decades before being appointed Archbishop of his homeland in 2011. As Relator General of the Synod on Synodality he stood at the centre of the greatest listening process in the history of the Church.
Few people know the questions, hopes and tensions of the synodal path as first-hand as he does. His presence connects our days in Puchberg directly with the heart of the worldwide Synod. On Wednesday, 16 September, he presides at Holy Mass as main celebrant.

Moderators

Univ. Prof. Dr. Klara Csiszar is professor of pastoral theology and Vice-Rector of the Catholic Private University of Linz, where she heads the Department of Synodality – the first of its kind in Europe. Born in Satu Mare, Romania, she carries the experience of a Church of the periphery into the heart of the European conversation and accompanies the synodal process on the continental level with passion and scholarly depth.

Cardinal Ladislav Nemet SVD is Archbishop of Belgrade and Vice-President of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE). Born in Vojvodina, a member of the Divine Word Missionaries and created cardinal by Pope Francis in 2024, he is a bridge-builder par excellence: between East and West, between minority and majority churches, between the many languages of his homeland and of Europe.

Mag. Gabriele Eder-Cakl is Director of the Austrian Pastoral Institute, the agency of the Austrian Bishops' Conference for pastoral ministry, catechesis and evangelisation. From 2017 to 2023 she was the first woman to lead the Pastoral Office of the Diocese of Linz. She moderates the day dedicated to Europe – and contributes a keynote on best practices of listening to Europe.

Deacon Geert De Cubber, a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Ghent, is a Germanist, theologian and journalist. He coordinated the synodal process in his diocese and was chosen as one of ten European 'witnesses of the synodal process' – the only Catholic deacon to take part in the Synod on Synodality in Rome in 2023 and 2024. Today he serves as press officer and spokesperson of his diocese. A man of words and of good stories, he brings the voice of the Synod itself into our days in Puchberg.

Univ. Prof. Dr. András Máté-Tóth is professor of religious studies at the University of Szeged, Hungary, and one of the leading scholars of religion and society in Central and Eastern Europe. Trained as a pastoral theologian, his research on the wounded collective identities of the region opens a profound understanding of the context in which the Church in Europe walks its synodal path.

Dr. Anna Hennersperger is a pastoral theologian, supervisor and organisational consultant with decades of experience in Church leadership and development. She headed the Institute for Theological and Pastoral Formation in Freising and was Director of the Pastoral Office of the Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt – in both roles a pioneer for women in Church leadership. She earned her doctorate in pastoral theology in Vienna under Paul M. Zulehner. With her rich experience in accompanying processes of change, she moderates the day dedicated to the transformation of the Church.

Univ. Prof. Dr. Csaba Török is a priest of the Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest and professor of systematic theology at the Theological College of Esztergom. Widely known in Hungary through his preaching and his presence in the media, he combines theological depth with the rare gift of speaking about faith in a language people understand. He co-moderates the day on the transformation of the Church and takes part in the fishbowl conversations of the conference.

Speakers

Univ. Ass. Dr. Predrag Bukovec teaches Liturgical Studies and Sacramental Theology at the Catholic Private University of Linz. Born in Vinkovci, Croatia, and raised in Berlin, he studied theology, the languages and cultures of the Christian Orient, and musicology in Tübingen, and earned two doctorates in Vienna before completing his habilitation in Linz in 2022. His award-winning research on the early Christian Eucharist has made him one of the most distinctive younger voices in his field.
Deeply committed to ecumenism, he serves on the international Catholic–Lutheran dialogue commission appointed by the Holy See. At our conference he opens the theological path of these days: baptism as the source of a Church that transforms.

Univ. Ass. Dr. Xénia Sereghy is a canon lawyer at the Catholic Private University of Linz, specialising in the law and life of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Rooted in Hungary and at home in Austria, she embodies in her own biography what she researches: a Church that breathes with both lungs, in the words of Saint John Paul II.
Her contribution reminds us that synodality in Europe cannot be conceived without the richness of the Eastern traditions – their rituals, their spirituality and their long experience of communion in diversity.

Univ. Prof. Dr. Robert Svatoň teaches ecumenical theology at the Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology of Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. His work is dedicated to the question of how the separated Christian churches can walk, listen and witness together – a question that lies at the very heart of synodality.
Coming from a country marked by profound secularisation, he knows that the common path of all Christians is not a luxury but a condition for the credibility of the Gospel in today's Europe.

Univ. Prof. em. Dr. Paul Michael Zulehner is one of Europe's most renowned pastoral theologians and sociologists of religion. Professor emeritus of the University of Vienna, he has accompanied the transformation of Church and society for more than five decades with his research on values, religiosity and pastoral renewal – always combining scholarly precision with a pastor's heart.
Together with Tomáš Halík he initiated large international surveys accompanying the synodal process. On our opening evening he leads us into a meditation with Pope Benedict XVI – an invitation to begin this pilgrimage of transformation in listening and prayer.

Univ. Prof. Dr. Tomáš Halík is one of the great spiritual voices of contemporary Europe. Secretly ordained a priest in 1978 under the communist regime, he worked in the 'underground Church' before becoming professor of sociology at Charles University in Prague, president of the Czech Christian Academy and pastor of the Academic Parish of St Salvator. In 2014 he was awarded the Templeton Prize.
In his books, translated into many languages, he explores faith in a secular age – a faith that dares to dwell in the questions of doubters and seekers. His keynote 'Listening to Europe' invites us to hear what the soul of this continent is really saying – its wounds, its longings, and the quiet presence of God within them.

Mag. Gabriele Eder-Cakl is Director of the Austrian Pastoral Institute, the agency of the Austrian Bishops' Conference for pastoral ministry, catechesis and evangelisation. From 2017 to 2023 she was the first woman to lead the Pastoral Office of the Diocese of Linz. She moderates the day dedicated to Europe – and contributes a keynote on best practices of listening to Europe.

Univ. Prof. Dr. Christoph Theobald SJ, born in Cologne and at home in France, is professor emeritus of fundamental and dogmatic theology at the Facultés Loyola Paris. He is one of the most influential Catholic theologians of our time: his interpretation of the Second Vatican Council and his vision of Christianity as a 'style' – a hospitable way of being present to the world – have profoundly shaped the theological conversation on synodality.
His keynote leads us to the source of everything this conference is about: baptism as the foundation of an existence, and of a Church, in which all the baptized share the same dignity and the same mission.

Univ. Prof. Dr. Myriam Wijlens, born in the Netherlands, is professor of canon law at the University of Erfurt. As consultor to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops she has accompanied the worldwide synodal process at its very centre; she also serves the ecumenical movement as a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches.
Few scholars combine as she does canonical expertise, ecumenical breadth and synodal experience. Her keynote addresses the decisive question of the 'roadmap': which structures can sustain and secure what the Spirit has set in motion – so that synodality does not remain an event, but becomes the shape of the Church.

PDF document (EN-DE-FR-IT): Directions to the Bildungshaus Schloss Puchberg 

Languages:
The conference languages are English, German, Italian, and French. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided.

Costs:
The participation fee is €350 per person. This fee includes full participation in the symposium, accommodation for three nights (14–17 September 2026), full board, translation services, and related costs.

Please note that the dynamic and process of the conference require full participation throughout the entire event. Hence shortened attendance cannot be considered. 

Additional Nights:
Any additional nights must be paid individually and directly to the Bildungshaus. However, we will gladly take care of the reservation for you upon request.

Registration & Deadlines:
Priority Registration for Bishops' Conferences: Open until 1 April 2026.
Each Bishops' Conference is invited to send up to 4 delegates.

Open Registration:
After 1 April 2026, registration will be opened to members of the diocesan and national teams, subject to availability. Please note that, for organizational reasons, we will close the registration process no later than 1 May.

The conference is fully booked, and registration is now closed.

Please note that the information regarding registration in these invitations is outdated, as registration has already closed.

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Qui trovate l’invito in lingua italiana.

Hier finden Sie diese Einladung in deutscher Fassung, die mit DeepL aus dem Englischen übersetzt worden ist.