FAQs about the Synod on Synodality

The Synod of Bishops is the primary consultative body of the Roman Catholic Church, consisting of bishops from every region of the world. The purpose of the Synod of Bishops is, through its collective wisdom, to advise the pope on major issues and thereby assist in governing the church. The synod meets periodically in gatherings convened by the pope and known as assemblies.

Synodality is the belief that the Holy Spirit acts through the People of God as they journey together, listen and share and learn from each other, and grow in wisdom together. It is a process through which the Catholic church – lay people, people in religious life (nuns, deacons, etc.), priests, and bishops – undergoes collective discernment to guide the church in attending to the important issues of our time.

To that end, in March 2020 Pope Francis announced that the Sixteenth Ordinary General Assembly of Bishops would gather in Rome with the theme “For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission” – colloquially known as the “Synod on Synodality.”

In what some have called “the biggest consultation exercise in human history,” every Catholic diocese in the world was charged with preparing for the synod by gathering thoughts from lay Catholics, non-Catholics, and non-Christians – particularly from people on the margins of society. Preparatory materials were made available to inspire reflection, and listening sessions were held in parishes, classrooms, diocesan offices, and even via Zoom meetings. Numerous organizations across the globe also sponsored listening sessions and submitted reports to the Synod office. Dioceses led by bishops who favor Pope Francis’s church reform efforts solicited dialogue enthusiastically, while those led by more conservative, reactionary bishops did little to promote the synod.

The findings of these local listening sessions were compiled together and synthesized at the national level – for example, by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in the United States – and then at the continental level. Issues of interest and concern included church power structures, the need for greater inclusion of women and LGBTQIA+ people, and combating sexual abuse. The October 2023 General Assembly kicks off the universal phase of the Synod on Synodality – and by order of Pope Francis, a significant group of more than 70 non-bishop delegates, including women, will be voting participants  in the synod for the first time.

The Synod on Synodality is the biggest opportunity for substantive reform to the Catholic church that we’ve seen in decades, since the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s. It reflects a deep sense that the church needs to examine who is in power and making decisions, and to broaden its structures in a way that is more reflective of the world in which we live and inclusive of the wide variety of people and identities that exist in the church and the world. In a sense, it can be looked at as an extension of Vatican II, or the next logical step following it.

Question prompts provided by the Vatican included “To whom does our particular church ‘need to listen to'” and “how are the laity, especially young people and women, listened to? How do we integrate the contribution of consecrated men and women? What space is there for the voice of minorities, the discarded, and the excluded? Do we identify prejudices and stereotypes that hinder our listening? How do we listen to the social and cultural context in which we live?”

According to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, 112 out of the world’s 114 Catholic bishops’ conferences participated in the initial diocesan listening phase. Additionally, many independent Catholic groups and organizations hosted their own listening sessions and submitted their findings to their bishops and the Vatican. In the U.S., approximately 700,000 Catholics took part in listening sessions all across the country.

A synthesis document released in September 2022 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops summarizing the results of diocesan listening sessions identifies a host of common themes, including:

• Enduring wounds inflicted by the sexual abuse crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, and political polarization within the church
• The wound of marginalization within the church experienced by disempowered groups like women, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, incarcerated people, etc.
• The desire to be a more welcoming church, especially to LGBTQ+ people, women, divorced and remarried people, and people with disabilities
• Concerns about racism inside and outside of the church, and the exodus of young people from parish life

Conspicuously missing is any mention whatsoever of contraception and abortion.

With Catholics using contraception and receiving abortion care at rates comparable to the general population (in the U.S., 1 in 4 abortion patients is Catholic and 98% of Catholic women report having used birth control) – and lay Catholics raising every other major church reform issue in local listening sessions, from women’s ordination to LGBTQ+ inclusion to divorce and remarriage – it is highly unlikely that the topics of contraception and abortion were not brought up as well. However, they are conspicuously omitted from the synod agenda because the Catholic hierarchy has decided that abortion and contraception are taboo topics – and that conversations about them are not just highly stigmatized, but completely disallowed inside the walls of the church. And as primary architects and funders of the anti-choice movement, they’ve waged a decades-long unholy crusade against the bodies of women and pregnant people.

It’s no wonder that they still refuse to engage in prayerful reconsideration of their position on abortion and contraception, but this continued refusal is vastly out of step with the wisdom and lived experiences of the people in their own pews.

It very much depends on whom you ask. While there are some among the U.S. Catholic hierarchy who seem to embrace Pope Francis’s reform-minded approach, there is a very large contingent – most of whom were appointed by arch-conservative Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI – who are at best unenthusiastic about the upcoming synod and at worst, downright apoplectic about the possibility of reform. In part, this faction is led by far-right Wisconsin-born Cardinal Raymond Burke, who went so far as to warn that the synod could lead to a schism in the church.  Former Bishop of Tyler, Texas, Joseph Strickland, called it a “travesty” that issues like women deacons, LGBTQIA+ outreach, and a greater role for the people in church decision-making are even up for discussion.

Perhaps the greatest sign of the U.S. bishops’ lack of enthusiasm for the synod is that in their last meeting before the synod’s first session, it initially didn’t make it on to the agenda – despite the fact that U.S. Catholics who participated in the listening sessions resoundingly reported that the church needs to better listen to and heed the voices of the people, particularly the marginalized. Pope Francis recently blasted this “strong reactionary attitude” present in the U.S. Catholic hierarchy, calling the reactionaries “backward-looking people” whose unwillingness to listen and evolve on matters of faith and morality can have a “devastating” effect.

Each continental region was asked to put forward 20 candidates with appropriate pastoral and synodal experience and was specifically asked to include young people and women. The resultant list of 140 laypeople, priests, consecrated people, and deacons was narrowed down by Pope Francis to 70 participants, 50% of whom are women. Additionally, Pope Francis invited additional participants, both including priests and bishops, as well as lay people. For the first time ever, women will be able to vote as full participants of the synod.

That depends on the final document or documents that come out of the synod, and its implementation across the global church. The synod is a consultative body that makes recommendations to the Pope at the conclusion of its sessions. In rare instances, the synod can issue its own document that could be considered Magisterium, but more common is for the pope to write a teaching document, such as an apostolic exhortation, in the months to follow the synod.

After this second and final session, the assembly will create a document to counsel the pope. In the months following October 2024, he may choose to write a teaching document like an encyclical or apostolic exhortation. Once the church receives the pope’s document, bishops will be in charge of their implementation at the local level across the global Catholic church.