If you haven’t already done so, Catholics around the world are being urged to “adopt a synod father” for whom they are encouraged to pray and fast during this critical gathering in Rome.

Adoptasynodfather.org is offering this special service to the faithful who want to prayerfully participate in the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Bishops which will focus on establishing appropriate pastoral guidelines for the care of the person and the family. The synod, will take place in Rome from October 4 – 25 and will complete the work started in the first synod known as the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of  Bishops which took place last year.

The 270 Synod Fathers include, 74 cardinals, six Patriarchs, one major archbishop, 72 archbishops (including three titular), 102 bishops, two parish priests and 13 religious.

Nine bishops from the U.S. are among this number, including USCCB president Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz or Louisville, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.

This is the first Synod of Bishops to meet on the theme of the family since 1980 when Pope St. John Paul II called the meeting. He followed this by issuing the apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio in 1981 on the role of the Christian family in the modern world.

Pope Francis is expected to issue his own apostolic exhortation after this year’s synod.

Needless to say, all of the synod fathers are in need of prayer so that they might fulfill Pope Francis call to remember that this meeting is not a parliament concerned with deal-making in order to reach a consensus, but a time to “open up to the Holy Spirit with apostolic courage, with evangelical humility” so that their decisions are governed by God and will remain faithful to the Magisterium.

You can adopt a synod father simply by emailing the website, which will then send you the name of a synod father to pray for during the duration of the Synod.

As the website states: “With the approach of the Synod, our shepherds need our prayers to be heralds of the beauty of the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family as taught by Our Lord in the Gospels and faithfully handed down to us through tradition as a precious jewel. Families and society at large deserve the Church’s fidelity and her witness at this moment in history.”

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