THE SYNODAL CHURCHThe reform of the Church requires we make a step forward in adopting a renewed synodal praxis that is able to engage everyone.
SYNODS AS HABITATS OF HOPEThe pandemic has deeply interrupted all our lives and the life of the Church. And it has made clear how ruthless the mechanisms of social disintegration can be for the weakest members of our communities.
A SYNOD ON SYNODALITYWhen the Synod of Bishops meets again in ordinary session in 2022 it will discuss an issue that is key to Pope Francis' vision for the Church.
SYNODS WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCEOver the years, we have begun to discover some differences between Jesus and the church: Jesus has credibility. The reputation of the church, on the other hand, teeters.
POPE FRANCIS PLANS SYNODAL SHAKE-UP The next synod of bishops gathering in Rome has been postponed until 2023 so that an unprecedented consultation of Catholics can take place in advance.
CAN THE U.S. CHURCH MANAGE THE SYNODAL PATH?In recent years, the U.S. bishops have lost much of their ability to work together; indeed they do not seem to like each other very much; how they will manage to engage in the synodal process.
SYNODALITY? WHAT’S SYNODALITY?Synodality is essential for recovering the legitimacy of ecclesial spaces. But the U.S. bishops don’t seem to want to consider it.
SYNOD 2021-2023 FOR A SYNODAL CHURCH... A decisive theme for the life and mission of the Church. This site will accompany the two-year journey (2021-2023) of reflection and sharing of the whole Church.
THE SPIRIT IN THE ASSEMBLYA global process set to mobilize millions and transform the world’s oldest and largest institution has so far registered as no more than a blip on the Catholic radar.
US BISHOPS SPEAK ON THE SYNODAL PROCESSExcerpts from homilies and statements given by bishops around the United States, introducing the Synod to their people and expressing unity with Pope Francis’s mission and vision for the Synod.
SPEAK BOLDLY, LISTEN CAREFULLYParticipation and prayerful listening were part of the early Church, and are still found in many religious orders. But through the Church’s history, synodality was squeezed out...
A NEW BEGINNING? LISTENING FOR A SYNODAL CHURCH This synodal process invites our leaders to listen intently, especially to those who have been marginalized in Catholic spaces. Church leaders must embrace a new beginning. Dare we hope for a new beginning?
SYNOD OR SIN ODDLY Vatican Encourages Catholics to ‘Walk Together’ as Long as the Hierarchy Leads the Way. The Synod on Synodality meant to engage the whole church, all billion plus, in a process of walking together though no one seems to know quite where or how.
GERMANY TAKES THE SYNODAL PATH If the blessings (of same-sex unions) were akin to an act of public disobedience, they were also an act of pastoral responsibility, undertaken in a peaceful, non-antagonistic way.
THE SPIRIT OF THE SYNODSToday diversity emerges strongly at every level: mentality, language, approach to issues. Far from being a problem, this is a resource as ecclesial communion is achieved through the real life of peoples and cultures. In a fractured world like ours, it is a prophecy.
THE CHURCH'S RADICAL REFORM – WHAT IS A SYNOD?This is the first in a new podcast series on synodality and will tell the story of the reform process. The series is presented by Christopher Lamb, the Rome Correspondent for
The Tablet SYNOD MEETINGS (U.S.)Share your hope and vision for a church you can believe in. Use the search feature here to find a local synod listening session near you.
WHY WERE THOSE WORDS ON THAT USCCB GRAPHIC?Although these terms were new and strange to many, they came from a Vatican document, and all of these concepts are rooted in the teachings of Pope Francis and his predecessors.
SYNODS AND LAITY: A MATCH MADE IN HISTORYWhile it is certainly true that the Catholic Church is not a democracy, it was much more representative in the Patristic era of the first few centuries of Christianity.
WHERE GERMAN CATHOLICS & POPE FRANCIS DIVERGEThe distance between Rome and Germany is as clear now under Francis as it has been in regard to John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and is a direct challenge to the pope’s emphasis of the “synodal process.”
EXPERIENCES OF A SYNODAL PROCESS No final document, no list of challenges and pastoral orientations, no methodological or operational element of the experience have any meaning or value if they do not place us in the perspective of knowing that we are called to follow Christ more closely.
SYNODALITY IS SIMPLESyndality is simple in itself, but it also demands a choice. Are we willing to follow the Spirit and convert from anything that keeps us from journeying in unity and listening to one another?
THE ABUSE SCANDAL & SYNODALITYThe opposition or indifference to synodality may yet have a profound impact on understanding the abuse crisis, and thus on any hope for meaningful Church reform.
CLOSER ENCOUNTERSOn the meaning of meeting others: The success of the Synod on Synodality set to take place in Rome next year will depend on whether a culture of encounter is present there.
SYNODALITY AND THE LISTENING CHURCH “If the Church is not synodal,” Pope Francis has said, “it is not the Church.” And this month, the process that is reviving the spirit of Vatican II reaches a turning point.
LISTENING TO THE SYNODA synodal report from the American bishops reflects fears that the Church has become too “judgmental.” But a Church that does not judge cannot bear moral witness.
ARE WE PROTAGONISTS YET?To listen is to emulate God’s disposition toward God’s people. When it comes to the status of women in the Church, we will know that such listening has been genuine if its fruits shatter the pattern...
SYNOD: WORKING DOCUMENT FOR THE CONTINENTAL STAGEThe Document is the fruit of the Syntheses resulting from the consultation of the People of God in the first phase of the synodal process and will be the focus of listening, dialogue and discernment of the Continental Synodal Assemblies (January-March 2023).
SHOULD WE BE SKEPTICAL ABOUT SYNODALITY?Models for parish renewal demonstrate concrete, synodal approaches to evangelization and leadership, but strategies for these alone are not enough. Ultimately, this is a “spiritual path.”
THE VOICES OF SYNODAL DIALOGUE While sometimes framed in different languages or with different emphases, the joys, the hopes, the sorrows and the fears of God’s people were remarkably similar.
SYNOD INCREASINGLY ABOUT UNITY IN DIVERSITY“Synodality” is generally understood to refer to a collaborative and consultative style of management in which all members, clerical and lay, participate in making decisions about the church’s life and mission.
FROM AGGIORNAMENTO TO SYNODALITYPope Francis, in the spirit of St. John XXIII, has been opening the windows of the Church to allow a fresh breeze in. And as with John XXIII, there has been considerable resistance to what he is imagining.
THE PENTECOST VIGIL PROJECTThe Pentecost Vigil Project supports the call for Church renewal through Spirit-led synodality, providing creative digital resources and services that enable a better understanding and embrace of the synodal process.
WE REMAIN HOPEFUL ABOUT THE SYNOD PROCESSThe Vatican's working document for the synod on synodality shows positive signs that the three-year synodal process may be the beginning of a significant shift in the church.
‘THE SYNOD IS NOT VATICAN III’The Second Vatican Council has given all the elements; there is no new element given by us. Everything which is there is in the council.
FALSE FEARS ABOUT THE SYNODA synodal Church is founded on the recognition of a common dignity deriving from Baptism, which makes all who receive it sons and daughters of God, members of the family of God.
TOWARD A LISTENING AND EMPATHETIC CHURCH?The journeying together that Pope Francis talks about invokes the metaphor of the people of God, which Vatican II put at the center of its ecclesiology, like a group of pilgrims.
LEARNING FROM THE WOMEN OF ST PAUL At the synod in October, there will be 70 non-bishop members with the right to vote, half of whom will be women. It does raise the question of the role of women within the institutional Church, already firmly on the Synod agenda.
TWO CRITICAL POINTS ABOUT THE SYNODCan the Church’s understanding of unchanging revelation develop, and in what ways? Powerful forces want the question to be taken off the table.
SYNODALITY: A PAPAL PRIMERSynodality is at the heart of the pontificate of Pope Francis. He has made this kind inclusive, consultative style of ministry the key to a Catholic Church that builds on the legacy of the Second Vatican Council rather than thwarting the council’s vision.
TRANSCENDING BOUNDARIESThe synodal process launched by Pope Francis has a deeper meaning than the reform of the Catholic Church. This hope rests in our faith that the Spirit of God is continually uniting humanity into one body.
LEAVEN FOR POSITIVE CHANGE The importance of Small Christian Communities (SCCs), also known as Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) or Basic Christian Communities (BCCs), to the life of the church has been a recurring theme of the synodal discussion this week.
WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE SYNOD? LOOK TO THE CATACOMBS In the catacombs, a reminder that Catholicism is a faith deeply embedded in its historical context. We believe the incarnation occurred, God became human, in a particular time and place. At its best, Christianity has a deep appreciation of context.
SYNOD IS A MILESTONE IN THE RECEPTION OF VATICAN IIThe final document from the now-concluded assembly of the synod on synodality will receive a tepid reception in some quarters. But the text captures what happened, and what happened is extraordinary when viewed through an ecclesiological lens.
A SYNODAL CHURCH IN MISSION The first Rome assembly of the Synod on Synodality concluded in Rome this week, publishing a synthesis report proposing an expanded role for the laity and hearing Pope Francis reiterate “the great and perennial reform” of the Church.
SYNODALITY WORKS - A REPORT FROM ROMENow begins a period of evaluation and a year’s discernment before the final assembly in October 2024, which will need to decide on some of the major questions identified in the synthesis report.
THE SYNOD: THE CHURCH BEGINS TO DREAMThe Synod on Synodality has laid a foundation stone for a deep reform of how the Catholic Church carries out its mission and how it contains disagreements that threaten its unity.
DISCLOSING GOD'S LOVEThe very nature of the synodal assembly in Rome testified to the identity of the church as the entire people of God in a piercing manner.
HOW THE SYNOD WILL CHANGE THE CHURCHThe current model of the Church is fading fast. What comes next will look very different. In spite of the immense diversity of viewpoint and culture and experiences within Catholicism, the synodal process is how we will get there.
THE SYNODAL JOURNEY CONTINUESThe good news is that we are still a Vatican II Church: thanks to Francis, efforts by some to shape the Church in an anti-conciliar way have failed.
THE SYNOD NEEDS MORE PARENTSThe greatest gift the church can give to our youth is to better serve their parents. This would begin with listening to us.
SYNODALITY CALLS US TO INWARD AND OUTWARD JOURNEYThe deeper our inner journeys as individuals and communities, the further our outward journeys will take us to overcome patriarchy and structural sin, thereby bringing fullness of life for everyone.
POPE BOLSTERS SYNOD PROCESS AHEAD OF MAJOR FALL MEETINGWith his lengthy and debated Synod of Bishops on Synodality set to wrap later this year, Pope Francis took several steps to bolster the process in the lead up to a meeting that will bring four years of global consultation to a close.
THE SYNOD AS STARTING POINT The invitational aspect of synodality can be transformational—resuscitating what may seem like a dying Church, especially for young people.
TOWARD THE SECOND SESSION OF THE 2021-2024 SYNODThe aim of the entire synod process is to make Church members more capable of “walking together” to fulfill the mission of proclaiming the Gospel in a meaningful and convincing way to the men and women of our time.
LGBTQ+ CATHOLICS & THE SYNODAL PROCESS LGBTQ+ Catholics can transform the Church — if the Synod would listen. Even if others choose to live with scales over their eyes, LGBTQ+ Catholics can see the Spirit creating and renewing.
HOW TO BE A SYNODAL MISSIONARY CHURCH The focus of the [Octoer] gathering will be “the identity of the synodal People of God in mission” and the tangible shape this takes in the relationships, paths and places where the everyday life of the Church takes place.
A SYNODAL CHURCH FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM In 2014 Francis quietly flagged the need for synodality. Most people did not recognize that, in this gentle aside, he planted the mustard seed for a synodal Church, a listening Church.
THE SCOURGE OF CLERICALISM – IS SYNODALITY FAILING?If clericalism is in part about a male closed shop at the top of the Church, and the synodal process was meant to break that open at last, it has to be admitted that so far it has failed. And it does not seem to be about to succeed any time soon.
LISTENING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT: A SYNODAL SPIRITUAL PRACTICETHIS is what we do: we prepare ourselves to be able to listen to the Holy Spirit, we invite others into this preparation, we form small Christian communities intent on learning how to listen to the Spirit, and then we listen together.
WILL THE SYNOD BE A YAWN? ONLY FOR HEADLINE WRITERSWILL THE SYNOD BE A YAWN? ONLY FOR HEADLINE WRITERS - As Pope Francis likes to say, reality is more important than ideas, so examining legitimate diversity among the churches will require a discussion of controversies that divide local churches.
WHAT MOST NEEDS TO CHANGE AT THE SYNOD? WE DO The Synod on Synodality has broken new ground. And it is so new that whatever seeds have been planted have only barely begun to sprout, and are certainly not yet ready for harvest.
WHAT WILL THE SYNOD SAY ABOUT THE ROLE OF WOMEN?The feeling at the Synod is that something will have to be done about the role of women. It can bring about a more evangelizing Church if it foments an inclusive Catholicism of women in ministry.
THE SHAPE OF THE CHURCH TO COME: ENCOUNTER AND WITNESSAs the second and final assembly of the Synod on Synodality begins, one of the advisers helping to facilitate discussions summarises it as a stage in the dramatic transformation of Christianity into a Church that will grow through encounter and witness, just as in its first centuries.
SHIFTING PERIPHERIES: SYNOD REPORT FOR OCTOBER 9Looking at the ways in which the center of the church is moving geographically from North to South and West to East—and the points of resistance to this movement from those who may fear a less rigidly Eurocentric, more inculturated Catholicism.
THE SHELTER AFTER WORDS After three years of words—preparatory, local, and continental documents; Instrumentum Labori and interventions from the Synod floor—the 16th Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops officially concluded... with a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.
SYNOD ENDS WITH DISAPPOINTMENT AND HOPEThe synod’s job is over - For the delegates, the synod was an experience of meeting the risen Lord, but some in the church will only see an empty tomb. Now it is up to the rest of the church to become synodal.
POPE FRANCIS CALLS FOR A ‘CHURCH THAT GETS ITS HANDS DIRTY’ Three years after he asked the world's Catholics to walk together in faith on a synodal journey, Pope Francis said that the church cannot risk becoming "static" but must continue as a "missionary church that walks with her Lord through the streets of the world."
THE PROBLEMS AND POTENTIAL OF SYNODALITY The church is called to be "a sign and sacrament of the unity of the whole human race" and in this moment, U.S. Catholics are called to see in synodality a means by which all Americans can remind themselves that we are "fellow citizens." That must be our hope and our challenge.
INVERTING THE PYRAMID - SENSUS FIDELIUMThe Synod on Synodality has ended and is now part of the teaching of the Church. This three-year process of discernment, consultation, assembly-gathering and final deliberation is now over, and it has been an astonishing success – but not in the way many may think.