Synod on Synodality

The seven-member preparatory commission for the assembly of the Synod of Bishops met at the Vatican March 13-16 and had an audience with Pope Francis on the last day of their gathering.

Under the "Chatham House Rule" obscuring speakers' identities, conversations among bishops and theologians about the local consultative process noted challenges and some resistance to the synod.

The Holy Spirit is in charge of the synodal process, but the question is whether we are willing to be led, or have to be driven and pushed into the process, says Fr. Daniel Horan.

When bishops gathered in Suva, Fiji, earlier this month, plans for a prayer service next to the ocean were derailed by stormy weather. The very location of the meeting underscored one of the region's most urgent concerns.

As the continental assemblies for the Synod of Bishops make clear that hot-button issues — like sexuality, climate change and the role of women in the church — are not going away, the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life is pointing at a more fundamental issue at stake in learning to be a "synodal church": What responsibility comes from baptism and unites all Catholics?

"Something special happened here," the president of the Irish bishops' conference said at the end of a continental assembly of European Catholics, held as part of the pope's process to reinvigorate the Synod of Bishops.

Encouraging Catholics to participate in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Francis also announced that before the assembly of the Synod of Bishops opens in early October, there will be an ecumenical prayer vigil in St. Peter's Square.

Synodality is an empty exercise unless true reform of the hierarchy comes from the top, says former NCR editor Tom Roberts.

The racial gap that many believed was narrowing has abruptly widened in America. Martin Luther King Jr. once asked, "Where do we go from here?" Pope Francis' call to become a synodal church could answer that question.

Launching the process for the synod on synodality, Pope Francis challenged Catholics to "become experts in the art of encounter." For that, some U.S. church leaders enlisted the help of a network of local organizations.

Lately, the question of ordination for women seems restricted to the growing requests for women priests. Even Francis uses that shorthand. But the tradition of ordaining women as deacons could easily be restored.

Fr. Michael Ryan synthesized the synodal listening sessions at Seattle's cathedral where he is pastor. He was stunned to later find out his words were echoed at the Vatican to describe a new era in church life.

Synodality is not about individual issues, argues columnist Michael Sean Winters, and those who think it is may need to manage their expectations about the process.

The synodal process is a mature fruit of Vatican II. But this will be a failed promise if the synod on synodality fails to address the abuse crisis, especially in the Catholic Church, as one of the signs of our times.

Conservatives fear the pope will give into public pressure; liberals fear that the hierarchy will reject their reforms. Francis, on the other hand, is focused on improving the mission of proclaiming the Gospel.

The U.S. church could learn much from the document from the 2021 CELAM meeting, says columnist Michael Sean Winters, not the least because Pope Francis' experience of CELAM meetings inspired the universal synodal process.

Pope Francis on Nov. 1 participated in a virtual online dialogue with students from across Africa, telling them that African youth should be unafraid to organize together to fight for their future. 

That the Vatican's working document for the synod mentions women's ordination is significant, notes Kate McElwee of the Women's Ordination Conference.

In Australia's multi-stage Plenary Council, Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge saw the Holy Spirit — comforter and disrupter — at work, a dynamic also present in Pope Francis' style of synods, he writes.

Catholic academics, theologians, clergy sex abuse survivors, and advocates for the inclusion of women and LGBTQ individuals praised the forthrightness and transparency of the Vatican's new synod document.

A newly released Vatican document for the next phase of Pope Francis' ongoing consultation process for the world's Catholics reckons with a number of topics once considered taboo in the Catholic Church, including women's ordination, LGBTQ relationships, children of priests, sexism and clergy sexual abuse. 

Members of the pope's opposition are well situated to gather like-minded cardinals in the sort of conspiratorial meetings not known since the Middle Ages. 

People want the church to be a home for the wounded and broken, not an institution for the perfect.

Pope Francis announced on Oct. 16 that he is significantly expanding the timeframe for his ongoing consultation process for the world's Catholics. The Vatican meeting of the Synod of Bishops, originally planned for next year, will now be held across two sessions: one in October 2023, and another in October 2024.

The Discerning Deacons project, dedicated to engaging Catholics about the role of women and the diaconate, has been active in the synodal process. The group has led some 350 synod consultations with over 8,800 people.

Columnist Michael Sean Winters on anti-synodal takes from George Weigel and Cardinal Gerhard Müller.

Francis, the comic strip: Is Francis eager to lead the synodal church?

NCR Connections: The Holy Spirit was the guest of honor at a recent gathering of church leaders on the topic of synodality. Literally.

Listen: Heidi, Father Daniel, and David look at Catholic governors who use migrants as political pawns; synthesis reports from the synod; and recent developments and long-term effects in the war in Ukraine.

For the past week outside of Rome, some 30 theologians, pastoral workers and bishops have been gathering in order to draft the working document of the next phase of Pope Francis' revamped global synod process.

Kudos to those who compiled the national synthesis for the synod, says columnist Michael Sean Winters. But there is still much more work to be done to truly embrace synodality in the church.

Addressing a group of U.S. Catholic leaders, Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod, emphasized the pastoral considerations of hot-button issues such as blessings for same-sex couples.

Changing the church's leadership style and building more welcoming communities were among the major themes in the synthesis document for the synod on synodality released by the Southern African bishops' conference.

Will the synodal process work? Will it help heal divisions and foster a community that can spread the Gospel, care for the marginalized and heal the Earth? Or will it show the world how divided we Catholics are?

Over 100 non-diocesan groups submitted their own synodal "synthesis" reports to the U.S. bishops. These Catholics participated in their own listening sessions for the grassroots consultation ahead of the 2023 Synod of Bishops in Rome.

Francis, the comic strip: In the American church, everything is just fine, apparently.

Phyllis Zagano: The synod is a worldwide event, and early reports from bishops' conferences outside the U.S. repeat the same story: Clericalism is a scourge on the church, and women are not respected or included in leadership.

A review of more than a dozen synodal reports from U.S. dioceses participants appreciate the opportunity to be heard, even if they harbor misgivings about what the Synod on Synodality will ultimately accomplish.

According to a report by Catholic Climate Covenant, many lay Catholics who have embraced and worked to live out church teachings to safeguard God's creation feel little to no support from clergy, bishops and dioceses, and in some cases opposition.

A recent criticism of synodality by a longtime critic of Pope Francis only shows the degree to which conservatives fear the process may change the church.

The common sentiment expressed during the July 18-23 gathering of the Pan-African Catholic Congress on Theology, Society and Pastoral Life is that the ones who were once evangelized must now become the evangelizers.

Francis, the comic strip: In a synodal church, you don't just sit around. It's for walking and movement.

Pope Francis on July 19 encouraged African theologians gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, to bring "good news of mercy for the poor and nourish people and communities in their struggle for life, peace and hope."

Commentary: Even though it's not a new concept in church history, synodality is a new term for most Catholics. But help is on the way, in the form of a massive online course led by experts — lay and clergy, men and women.

The church's process of synodality is positioned to capture the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of young people as they navigate uncertainty, transcend traditional religious boundaries and encounter a sense of wholeness. 

Scripture for Life: When the disciples gathered to debate and pray in Acts 15, their commitment only grew deeper as they recognized the Spirit forming them into a community more attached to Christ than to their opinions.

Peruvian Archbishop Hector Miguel Cabrejos Vidarte, president of the Latin American bishops' council, shares his reflection on how synodality is renewing the church in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Michael Sean Winters: Conservative prelates published a letter to the German bishops complaining about their Synodal Path. This kerfuffle was instructive about the synodal process and its limits, not about how the process will end.

In an open letter, 74 bishops from North America, Africa, Italy and Australia have expressed their "growing concern" about the German Synodal Path process and content, warning about its "potential for schism."

The synod on synodality calls bishops to listen to those who feel excluded. NCR interviewed diocesan officials, lay ministers and pastors in several dioceses to see how local churches are seeking out Catholics on the margins.

Francis, the comic strip: Want to go for a (synodal) walk?

NCR Connections: The two hours 17 members of the National Catholic Reporter Board of Directors spent "journeying together" in response to the pope's invitation were moments of grace and a gift of rich dialogue.

Connections: While I doubt that immediate post-synod change is likely, the process signals the openness to talk about issues such as women's ordination that have previously been off the table.

For nearly two hours Feb. 24, the pope listened to Catholic university students from across the Americas, as they shared personal experiences, insights, frustrations and ideas pertaining to climate change and migration.

Students from North, Central and South America are set to talk with Pope Francis in a virtual dialogue Feb. 24. The students chosen to participate range from "practicing" to "distant from the church," they told NCR.

Commentary: There are two synodal gatherings going on now in the Catholic Church — the German church's "Synodal Way" and the bishops' "synod on synodality" — which will undoubtedly have serious repercussions on the life of the church.

Three large initiatives landed on the doorsteps of U.S. Catholic dioceses, parishes, congregations and organizations last fall. A recent Catholic Climate Covenant webinar explored the opportunities for collaboration.

NCR's Michael Sean Winters inferred that the Women's Ordination Conference might impose an American "activist" agenda onto the synodal process. I ask simply that we are granted the respect of encounter before we are dismissed.

Commentary: I must confess that I had concerns about Pope Francis' expressed desire that synodality be implemented at every level of the church's life. In Cuautitlán, my misgivings about synodality were dispelled.

Michael Sean Winters: If our conservative friends are keeping the synod at arm's length, there is a real opportunity for our liberal friends to be heard. Certainly, in my lifetime, there has never been such an opportunity for the Catholic left to be heard. 

Francis, the comic strip: "People have no influence if they have no say," Leo says. "It's not fair."

Pope Francis will meet with Catholic university students across the Western Hemisphere in a virtual dialogue hosted by Loyola University Chicago on Feb. 24 as part of the ongoing consultation process for the Synod of Bishops.

Commentary: Often our evangelization efforts are linked with bad theology and clerical attitudes. A better approach would be to realize that everything we do as Catholics is a touchpoint of evangelization.

Francis, the comic strip: A catechism Catholic has a story to tell.

All Christians are invited to pray for unity and continue to journey together, said Cardinals Mario Grech and Kurt Koch.

 Pope Francis this year invited Catholics both in the mainstream of church life and on the margins to express their dreams, ideas and concerns in preparation for the Synod of Bishops in 2023.

In the U.S., the early weeks of the diocesan phase of the synod on synodality so far reveal an uneven response to Pope Francis' vision of a more decentralized, listening and discerning church that "journeys together."

An official from the Vatican's Synod of Bishops' office has apologized for removing a link to a video by the Catholic LGBTQ outreach organization New Ways Ministries and reversed course by re-publishing the original video in question.

Phyllis Zagano: The U.S. bishops' conference focus is on what they can do. The pope's focus is on what the people can do. 

Synodal unity is not "based on the avoidance of sensitive or painful problems," Baltimore Archbishop William Lori said in his homily for the opening Mass of the U.S. bishops' fall meeting.

To ensure all Catholics have an opportunity to share and to listen as part of the initial process leading up to the Synod of Bishops in 2023, the Vatican has extended the local phase by more than three months.

Commentary: Sr. Christine Schenk's review of major U.S. dioceses' websites presents a heartening (though inconclusive) picture of synod events planned by church leaders of both "liberal" and "conservative" persuasions.

Theology en la Plaza: This synodal process invites all the faithful, in particular our leaders, to do some soul-searching. We must listen intently, especially to those who have been marginalized in Catholic spaces. Church leaders must embrace a new beginning.

NCR Live: A conversation about Pope Francis' vision for the 2021-23 Catholic Synod of Bishops with San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy and St. Joseph Sr. Katie Eiffe, director of synodal planning for the Diocese of Syracuse, New York. 

Michael Sean Winters: If we as a church are to be a leaven in the world, we must first overcome the polarization within our own house. The world is profoundly divided, but so is the Christian community.

Pope Francis on Oct. 10 officially launched the Vatican's high-stakes, two-year synod process in an opening Mass where he urged the global Catholic church to master the "art of encounter."

The synod on synodality has aspirations to reshape the Catholic Church's ability to engage its members and revitalize its mission as a participatory, listening church, after decades marred by clericalism and abuse.

With about three weeks before Catholic prelates worldwide open a first-of-its-kind consultation period for the Vatican's Synod of Bishops, many U.S. church officials are still figuring out exactly what that process will look like.

We say: Despite concerns and controversies, we urge Catholics to participate in the synodal process. It may not be perfect, but the church is more likely to address the needs of the people of God with it than without it.

Mary McAleese expressed reservations about Pope Francis' leadership of the Catholic Church, telling a British church reform movement that he is "a conservative leader" blessed with enemies who make him look more liberal than he is.

Michael Sean Winters: Early critiques fretting about the Vatican's new document on synodality cite "unpredictability" and "confusion." But, at base, they reject the call to conversion and repeat criticisms of Pope Francis and his reform agenda.  

Commentary: Theologian Hosffman Ospino joins in conversation with his Boston College colleague Rafael Luciani about synodality, a way of "walking together" as Pope Francis has called on the Catholic Church to embrace.

Pope Francis significantly widened the scope of the next planned meeting of the world's Catholic bishops, postponing the event by one year to allow for periods of consultation in every local diocese and at the continental level before the opening of the usual Vatican gathering of prelates.

Pope Francis has decided the next world Synod of Bishops at the Vatican, which will take place in October 2022, will have the theme: "For a synodal church: Communion, participation and mission."