Synod on Synodality

Pope Francis has approved the next phase of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, launching a three-year implementation process that will culminate in an ecclesial assembly at the Vatican in October 2028.

Valleyfield Bishop Alain Faubert senses enthusiasm for the synodal cause “is brewing” in dioceses and archdioceses across the country.

Doubling down on the centrality of synodality in the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said that it is now up to local churches to accept and implement proposals from the final document approved the Synod of Bishops on synodality.

After members of the Synod of Bishops approved their final document, Pope Francis announced that he would not write the customary post-synodal apostolic exhortation but would offer the final document to the entire church to implement.

Pope Francis decided the question of ordaining women deacons was not to be discussed at the 2024 Synod of Bishops, and he directed a synod-related study group on women's ministries not to explore the matter, according to the Vatican's doctrinal chief.

As members of the Synod of Bishops entered the last week of their meeting in Rome, the synod's secretary-general urged them to resist the temptation of "covetousness" -- the desire "to keep everything for ourselves, to possess, to hoard, to define, to close."

If members of the Synod of Bishops are serious about sharing their experience of "synodality" with all members of the Catholic Church, then they must identify concrete ways to do so, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich told members.

The Vatican group studying the question of women's ministry, including the ordination of women to the diaconate, will expand its consultative phase to include women who do not serve as consultors to the dicastery in charge of the study group, synod officials announced.

"Rushing" to open the diaconate to women in the Catholic Church would short-circuit a necessary reflection on the relationship between ordained ministry and charismatic leadership, particularly as it impacts the participation of women in the church, said the head of the Vatican's doctrinal office.

The second meeting of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops begins this week at the Vatican. Like last year's meeting, it's a four-week-long gathering of 368 voting delegates -- with scores more of nonvoting participants -- from six continents to address the theme "For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission" and experience synodality, a posture of listening, accompaniment and communion in the church.