Synod on Synodality

From the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis expressed his desire to strengthen the collegial aspects of the Church's governance, and he argued for more recognition of charismatic gifts in the Church. On 15 September 2018, Francis approved the new apostolic constitution Episcopalis communio (Episcopal communion). The constitution states that the Synod's final document, if approved by the members with "moral unanimity" and, if the Pope has "granted deliberative power to the Synod Assembly", becomes part of the ordinary Magisterium of Catholic teaching "once it has been ratified and promulgated by him". The new constitution also provides for the laity to send their contributions directly to the synod's secretary general. == Preparation ==

version Pope Francis announced the Synod on Synodality on March 7, 2020. On 24 May 2019, Nathalie Becquart was appointed, along with four other women and one man, as consultor to the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church. It was the first time for women to be appointed to that position. Becquart saw the appointment as a part of Pope Francis's effort "to implement synodality at every level of the Church's life" and to benefit from the important contribution that women can make. Becquart proposed a symbolic step of asking a woman to lead the retreat for the Roman Curia one year. On 6 February 2021, Pope Francis appointed Becquart as an undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, making her the first woman to have the right to vote in the Catholic Synod of Bishops. On April 26 2023, Pope Francis announced that women would be allowed to vote at the Sixteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, marking the first time women were allowed to vote at any Catholic Synod of Bishops. Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, said that the synod was not like a parliament, where one sides stands to gain as the other loses. It is also not as important who has a vote on the final document, he said, as much as Catholics around the world "dialogue, converse, discern together in order to" find consensus. On 10 July 2023, five cardinals—Walter Brandmüller, Raymond Leo Burke, Zen Ze-Kiun, Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, and Robert Sarah—sent a set of dubia to Pope Francis concerning the upcoming synod. The cardinals say that the pope answered those dubia the next day and gave them his answers privately. However, since the pope did not answer those dubia with "yes" or "no", the five cardinals then submitted on 21 August 2023 another set of dubia rewording the previous set of dubia; the pope did not answer this latest set. On 2 October 2023, a few days before the beginning of the synod, those five cardinals publicly complained they had not received answers to their second set of dubia. Hours after this public complaint, the Holy See publicly released their answers to the first set of dubia and criticised the cardinals for talking about those matters in public. The guidelines for the synod were published on 4 October 2023. They stated, among other things, that to preserve "the freedom of expression of each and all regarding their thoughts and to ensure the serenity of the discernment in common, which is the main task entrusted to the assembly, each of the participants is bound to confidentiality and discretion regarding both their own interventions and the interventions of other participants". The guidelines stipulate that "[t]his duty remains in force once the synodal assembly has ended". == Ecumenical reach ==

Before the beginning of the synod, Pope Francis invited all Christians for a Synod prayer vigil in St. Peter's Square on 30 September 2023. Important church leaders were present, among whom were: • Rev. Thomas Schirrmacher, General Secretary of the World Evangelical Alliance. • The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, primate of the Church of Constantinople and honorific head of the Eastern Orthodox Church. • Serafim Bădilă, representative of the Romanian Orthodox Church. • Andrej Ćilerdžić, representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church. • Gennadios Stylianos Stantzios, Bishop of Botswana, representative of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria. • The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, primate of the Church of England and honorific head of the Anglican Communion. • Anne Burghardt, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation. • Jong Chun Park, President of the World Methodist Council. • William Wilson, Chairman of the Pentecostal World Fellowship. • Rev. Elijah M. Brown, General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance. • Gebretsadik Debeb, representative of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. • Samaan Anba Pola, representative of the Coptic Orthodox Church. • Khajag Barsamian, representative of the Armenian Apostolic Church. • Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, primate of the Syriac Orthodox Church. • Mar Benjamin Paulus, representative of the Assyrian Church of the East. • Geevarghese Mar Barnabas, representative of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. • The Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht, Bernd Wallet, primate of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands and honorific leader of the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches. Kuzipa Nalwamba, representative of the World Council of Churches was also present. Pope Leo XIV observed at an ecumenical gathering in Rome in June 2025 that: ==Synodality==

Several months before announcing the synod, Pope Francis said that "Synodality is a style, it is a walk together, and it is what the Lord expects from the Church of the third millennium". According to the International Theological Commission, synodality is "the action of the Spirit in the communion of the Body of Christ and in the missionary journey of the People of God". It is more commonly understood as a process by which the Church undergoes discernment on a variety of issues. Aided by the Holy Spirit, the laity, priests, bishops, and religious each use their own gifts and charisms to help the Church make decisions. The notion of the Church as "synodal" by its very nature requires "careful theological clarification" according to the Commission, as it is a relatively new concept. ==Preparatory documents==

In September 2021, the Vatican released a preparatory document and "handbook" to dioceses around the world to help them prepare for the synod. According to the document: ==Diocesan phase==

Pope Francis officially opened the synodal process on 10 October 2021 at the Vatican. The diocesan phase ran from October 2021 to April 2022. The Irish Catholic bishops published a National Synthesis Document in August 2022 following a similar process across the 22 Irish dioceses. ==Continental phase==

The continental phase extended from September 2022 to March 2023. The European Continental Synodal Assembly took place in Prague from 5 to 12 February 2023. For the North American Continental Stage, 10 virtual assemblies took place during December 2022 and January 2023, with a continental synthesis completed by 31 March 2023. ==Universal phase==

In April 2023, it was announced that 70 non-bishops (including deacons, priests, consecrated men and women, and Catholic laity) would be able to participate and vote at the Assembly. In June 2023, the working document (Instrumentum laboris) was released. The final or universal phase started on 4 October 2023 with a synodal assembly taking place at the Vatican after a three-day retreat held in Sacrofano. The October session, held behind closed doors, took place over a three week period. The assembly proceedings were described by some who had attended as "long and demanding". A summary report was published on 28 October 2023 entitled A Synodal Church in Mission. At the end of the synodal assembly, the Pope referred back to the Synod's ultimate goal: The synod itself would continue until October 2024; the period until then was intended to "allow everyone to concretely participate" in the synodal process. ==Final document==

On 26 October 2024 the synod's deliberation meeting concluded. There are five main sections within the final document, inviting five forms of conversion to be realised across the church: spiritual, relational, procedural, institutional, and missionary. A November 2024 note accompanying the Synod's final document, signed by Francis, states that the document "participates in the ordinary magisterium of the successor of Peter, and as such, I ask that it be accepted". Furthermore, this note states that the pope asks that the document's decisions be implemented; the pope said that while the document's decisions were "not strictly normative", "[l]ocal churches [are obligated] to make choices consistent with what was indicated". ==Criticism==

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller compared the synod to an "Anglican synodal meeting" and claimed that "some in the assembly are 'abusing the Holy Spirit' in order to introduce 'new doctrines' such as an acceptance of homosexuality, women priests and a change in Church governance." Cardinal Joseph Zen wrote that "if legitimized...[it]can change everything, the doctrine of faith and the discipline of moral life." The Catholic Herald criticized the strong presence of laypeople and perceived push towards democratizing the church. The Catholic Telegraph wrote that "a significant number of participants... seem more determined to dictate terms to the Holy Spirit than to listen to His prompting". Political analyst and author George Weigel described the synod as "Overhyped, Overmanaged, Underwhelming" and possessing a "Catholic Lite agenda", while praising minor aspects. Secular The Synod's final recommendations for the Catholic church would receive criticism for the way they significantly lacked more equity for women. Despite calling for more women to have leadership roles, the issue of female ordination for roles such as deacons would be taken off the table. In addition to criticism of over the lack of progress for the issue of female deacons, the Synod was also criticized for its failure to make progress on the Catholic Church's LGBTQ+ outreach. Despite being previously hailed as a major event for reform, The New York Times described the Synod as only "comparable to a mini version" of the 1960s Second Vatican Council. ==See also==