Catholics around the world are being urged to “adopt a synod father”. By emailing the website adoptasynodfather.org they will be sent the name of a synod father to pray for the duration of the family synod, which begins this Sunday. The synod will last for three weeks. The website says: “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.'