What’s Next in Synodality?

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What’s Next in Synodality?

Since 2021, Pope Francis invited all persons of good faith to “walk together” on a synodal journey – under the themes of “Communion, Participation and Mission.” Local, regional, national and continental phases of dialogue led to Synods in Rome in both October 2023 and 2024. For the first time in any Synod of Bishops, 54 women were present among the 400 delegates as voting members, sitting in round discussion tables with laymen, priests and members of the hierarchy.

Now, in 2025, Catholics are supposed to be living into “the implementation phase” of the synodal process. Many wonder if anything has, or will, change in their parishes and dioceses as a result. With the newly elected Leo assuming the papacy, what are the next steps in synodality?

From June 15 – 18, 135 participants gathered at St. Jerome’s University College in Waterloo, ON for a conference entitled: Journey of Encounter: Pilgrims of Hope Embracing Synodality. Organized by a group called Concerned Lay Catholics, the intent of the meeting was not only to deepen the synodal journey started by Pope Francis, but also to use those very synodal processes that make synodality come alive.

Facilitators at each discussion table had been trained in how to employ the method called Conversations in the Spirit. Rooted in quiet prayer and then allowing time for each participant to speak without interruption, the sharing always ended with community discernment designed to name whatever points of convergence and/or divergence emerged. The intent was always to gently identify whatever the Holy Spirit seemed to bring out among us all.

Four sessions were introduced by keynote addresses, followed by table discussions. The themes included:

Session #1: What does it mean to live out your baptismal call? What supports do you have and obstacles do you face?

Session #2: Where and how have you experienced the church as welcoming or unwelcoming and what concrete ways can we move toward a church for (in Francis’ phrase) “Todos, todos, todos”? (i.e., for all.)

Session #3: What has your experience been of growing synodality in yourself, your parish, diocese, country? What would you identify as “concrete methods and training paths to achieve a tangible synodal conversion” in your context (Final Document of the October 2024 Synod, #9?)

Session #4: What are your signs and sources of hope as we journey together towards a “fully synodal church?”

Oblates were well-represented at the conference. Oblate Associates Serena Shaw and Lucie Leduc traveled from Edmonton, Pam Dixon and John Renken arrived from Ottawa, as did Tim Coonen and the Centre Oblat’s Tara Hurford. As well, OMI Lacombe Canada generously facilitated the participation of Indigenous Catholics from St. Theresa Point First Nation MB and Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton. Hamilton’s bishop, Doug Crosby OMI, helped finance the meeting, and was present for the opening ceremonies and as celebrant of the final Eucharist.

In March, even while in hospital, Francis announced his hopes for the next part of the synodal journey. Details included:

  • May 2025: publication of the Support Document for the implementation phase, with guidelines for its conduct; (note: yet to be released)
  • June 2025 – December 2026: implementation paths in local Churches and their groupings;
  • end of June: 10 Study Groups report
  • first half of 2027: evaluation Assemblies in Dioceses and Eparchies;
  • second half of 2027: evaluation Assemblies in national and international Episcopal Conferences, Eastern hierarchical structures, and other groupings of Churches;
  • first half of 2028: continental evaluation Assemblies;
  • June 2028: publication of the Instrumentum laboris (or working document) for the ecclesial Assembly in October 2028;
  • October 2028: celebration of the ecclesial Assembly in the Vatican.

On June 10, it was announced by Cardinal Grech of Malta (the man who heads up the Secretariat for the Synod) that the deadline for reception of the reports of the ten Study Groups has been extended. (Francis had named these Study Groups on “hot topics” where further deliberation could be useful. Some of the topics include “Some theological and canonical matters regarding specific ministerial forms” (i.e., women deacons, etc.); ministry of the bishop; “mission in the digital environment;” etc.)

A highlight of the conference was an interview with two persons who had attended the Synods: Cathy Clifford, a professor of Theology at St. Paul University in Ottawa, and Mgr. Alain Faubert, Bishop of Valleyfield, QC. Bishop Faubert serves as a member of the Secretariat for the Synod on Synodality in Rome and reported that he would be traveling there to hear of the new pope’s intentions for the synodal process. He also stated that he has asked the Canadian Conference of Bishops to appoint a special synodal working group to plan on-going activities in this country.

This conference manifested the interest and hope in the synodal journey from the hearts and minds of lay people from every province in Canada. The Final Document of the 2024 Synod expressed Francis’ emphasis on integrating synodality as “a constitutive dimension of the Church.”

How will your faith community embrace synodality in the months and years ahead?

By Joe Gunn

Joe Gunn of Ottawa served on the Steering Committee of the conference. The Vatican named him among the six members of Study Group #2, “Listening to the Cry of the Earth and the Poor.”