The Vatican released a new document July 7, “Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod,” which aims to guide the church in the next few years as it digests the works of the twin synods on synodality. Issued by the General Secretariat of the Synod, the text is a kind of map for the local churches in preparation for the 2028 ecclesial assembly that will focus on this key reform effort begun by Pope Francis and continued now by Pope Leo XIV.
The document makes clear at the very beginning that synodality is intended to help the church better embrace its own missions of evangelization. “The synodal form of the Church is at the service of its mission, and any change in the life of the Church is intended to make it more capable of proclaiming the Kingdom of God and witnessing to the Gospel of the Lord to the men and women of our time.”
Synodality can and should help the church in the U.S. be more fully itself and, just so, less fractious and polarized. Efforts to overcome polarization are often stillborn because they come at the issue head-on, and people dig in. By focusing on the mission of the church, evangelization, we may better overcome that polarization when we start listening to, and learning from, one another.
The new document acknowledges the energy and enthusiasm experienced by those who have already engaged in the synodal process but it invites all of us to move forward. Unlike the consultations before the twin synods, we now have the final document they produced and which is now part of the ordinary magisterium of the church. The new document specifically calls on local churches to listen to “those who have expressed doubts and resistance to the synodal process: in order to truly walk together, we cannot lose the contribution of their point of view.”
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With thanks to the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) and Michael Sean Winters, where this article originally appeared.
