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The synod, a gathering of 185 bishops to focus on the state of the Catholic Church and interfaith affairs in the Middle East, began at the Vatican on Sunday, Oct. 10, and will last until Oct. 24.
Pope Benedict XVI opened the gathering on Sunday by encouraging Middle East church leaders to renew their unity and witness of the faith.
"The first Christians in Jerusalem were few," he said, according to the Catholic News Service. "No one could have imagined what happened afterward. And the Church still lives with that same energy that made the early Church arise and grow."
Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles is the only other archbishop of a U.S. city to be participating in the synod. Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto also is there.
Archbishop Vigneron's selection, announced Oct. 8 by the Vatican, likely is a result of the strong presence of Eastern Rite Catholics in the Archdiocese of Detroit. The Southfield-based Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle, especially, has grown in recent years. There are approximately 150,000 Chaldean Catholics in southeast Michigan -- a number that has grown significantly since the Iraq war began, according to Chaldean Bishop Ibrahim N. Ibrahim.
Bishop Ibrahim also is a member of the synod.
Fr. Alex Kratz OFM, Franciscan Friar at St. Aloysius Parish and Spiritual Director of Terra Sancta Pilgrimages, discusses synod with Vanessa Denha on "Catholic Connection".
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Catholic News Service contributed to this report
