I was going through old editions of the now discontinued magazine 30 Days, which was sent free to missionaries right around the world, when I came across a 2007 interview with the then Cardinal Bergoglio by Stefania Falasca about the Aparecida Conference of the Latin American Bishops. I was particularly interested in his comments because of the recent survey of the laity’s thinking in prepar­ation for the upcoming Synod on the Family. He noted the three “pillars” of Aparecida. The first was, “from below upwards”, as the conference for the first time didn’t start out from a pre-prepared basic text but from open dialogue. Secondly, the conference bishops celebrated Mass every day, not separately, but with the pilgrims at the Marian shrine and held the