On Sunday 15 January in Rome, at the end of the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis announced that the work of the next assembly of the Synod of the Roman Catholic Church will be preceded by an ecumenical prayer vigil on Saturday 30 September on St Peter’s Square, Rome:

"The path to Christian unity and the path of synodal conversion of the Church are linked. I would like to take this opportunity to say that on Saturday 30 September, an ecumenical prayer vigil will be held on St. Peter’s Square, with which we will entrust to God the work of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. For the young people coming to the vigil, there will be a special programme throughout that weekend, led by the Taizé community. As of now, I invite brothers and sisters of all Christian denominations to participate in this "Gathering of the People of God."

This gathering of the people of God has been prepared over the past months by representatives of around fifty church groupings from many different denominations.

Following Pope Francis’ announcement of the "Gathering of the People of God" project, its preparation has entered a new phase.

 On 23 January, a conference to present the project was held with several speakers: Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg; Brother Alois, Prior of Taizé; Archbishop Ian Ernest, Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome; Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, representative of the Armenian Apostolic Church to the Holy See (Catolicosate of Etchmiadzin); and Pastor Christian Krieger, President of the Conference of European Churches and the French Protestant Federation. It is possible to listen to this press conference online.

 The event website www.together2023.net was launched on this occasion.

 Any young people willing to help in the preparation, either in Rome or in one of the ten working groups that are being set up to cover all aspects of the preparation, can write to volunteers together2023.net.

 One of the working groups concerns communication. We are looking for volunteers with skills in graphic design, social networking, communication and media. If you can help with this, please feel free to write to media together2023.net.