In Lisbon, the Church communicators prepared themselves, with the help of Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, and Father Federico Lombardi, director of the press office of the Holy See, to communicate the forthcoming Extraordinary Assembly on the Family. The process of the Synod on the Family provides for the drafting of a working document by the Synod of Bishops, which will form the basis of the reflection of the participants at October’s Extraordinary Assembly.

With respect to the discussions on the Synod, the statement of the Bishops' Conferences says: "they have emphasised the image of a Church, that also in this area focuses on transparency, is not afraid of comparison, is ready to face the challenges of history, and presents in a new way the Good News of Christ to the Christian family as the true source of hope and new life." The Church Communicator, therefore, has the responsibility to show that "this is a universal Synod and not an exclusively European Synod," and that, consequently, the responses to the questionnaire will "have a universal value." This explains the call to avoid an exclusively case study approach, which does not fully reflect the real challenges facing the Church.

The spokespersons of the Church in Europe—continues the statement—analyzed the media phenomenon of Pope Francis and his "narrative style," as an opportunity for "a genuine dialogue with the world." To the Church communicators—according to what emerged from the work—is entrusted "the task to continue to tell about the whole life of the Church and the proclamation of the Gospel, even against the mainstream media, to avoid falling into a form of cult of personality."