Vatican City, Mar 19, 2025 / 14:15 pm (CNA).
The Vatican announced on Saturday its latest plans for the Synod on Synodality’s ongoing implementation — a multiyear “accompaniment and evaluation process” leading to a Church-wide assembly at the Vatican in October 2028.
CNA explains more about the process and why it has been initiated:
Implementation phase
Initiated by Pope Francis in October 2021, the Synod on Synodality was a multiyear, worldwide process of the Catholic Church focused on exploring the question “What steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow in our ‘journeying together’?”
The synod went through diocesan, national, and continental stages in phase one, the “consultation” phase. Two global, monthlong assemblies were held at the Vatican in October 2023 and October 2024 as part of the next “discernment” phase.
The 2024 synod gathering, which included for the first time both bishops and non-bishops as voting members, was largely focused on discussing the question “What processes, structures, and institutions are needed in a missionary synodal Church?”
At the end of the month, Pope Francis chose to ratify the assembly’s final report rather than write his own postsynodal document, stating that “there are already very concrete indications in the document that can be a guide for the mission of the Churches, on the different continents, in the different contexts.”
The third and final phase of the Synod on Synodality is the implementation phase, underway now.
Study groups examining 10 areas of possible reform, based on suggestions from the 2023 assembly, are part of the implementation of the synod. Some of the study groups are expected to deliver their final reports in June.
Accompaniment and evaluation process
On March 15, the Vatican’s synod office announced an additional initiative of the implementation of the Synod on Synodality: an over-three-year accompaniment and evaluation process that will begin in churches and dioceses, move to national and international gatherings, and eventually culminate in a global gathering at the Vatican in October 2028.
With the approval of Pope Francis, who signed off on the process from the hospital on March 11, the General Secretariat of the Synod sent a letter to all of the Catholic Church’s Latin-rite bishops and Eastern-rite exarchs as well as to bishops’ conference presidents explaining this next project.
The timeline of the accompaniment and evaluation process is as follows: This May will see the publication of a support document for the implementation phase, with guidelines for its use.
From June 2025 to December 2026 there will be implementation paths in local Churches.
In the first half of 2027 there will be evaluation assemblies in dioceses around the world.
The second of half of 2027 will see evaluation assemblies in national and international bishops’ conferences.
Evaluation assemblies at the continental level will take place in the first half of 2028.
June 2028 will see publication of the Instrumentum Laboris, or guiding document, for the October 2028 assembly.
Finally, in October 2028, the Vatican will host the ecclesial assembly.
According to Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the synod and the author of the letter about the accompaniment and evaluation process, “synodal teams” made up of priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, and laypeople — accompanied by their bishops — will organize and conduct the process in each diocese.
What is it all about?
Grech said in his letter the implementation phase of the Synod on Synodality should be understood “not as merely the ‘application’ of directives from above but rather as a process of ‘reception’” of the suggestions made in the final document of the October 2024 synodal assembly.
“It is essential to move forward together as the whole Church,” the cardinal emphasized, noting the importance of “harmonizing” the synod’s reception throughout the Church.
Pope Francis, in his final speech to synod participants on Oct. 26, 2024, said: “There are and there will be decisions to be made.”
“I, then, will continue to listen to the bishops and the Churches entrusted to them,” he continued. “This is not the classic way of postponing decisions indefinitely. It is what corresponds to the synodal style with which even the Petrine ministry is to be exercised: listening, convening, discerning, deciding, and evaluating.”
“The process,” Grech explained, “will also be an opportunity to evaluate together the choices made at the local level and recognize the progress made in terms of synodality. Thanks to this process, the Holy Father will be able to listen to and confirm the orientations deemed valid for the whole Church.”
In an interview with Vatican News, Grech provided more background to the decision to implement an “application and evaluation process” in the Church.
He said it boils down to the need to have a synodal mentality and “simply publishing a ‘document’ is not enough for what emerged in the two phases of the synodal process to be implemented in the Church’s life.”
Because Pope Francis adopted the final document of the 2024 assembly into his ordinary magisterium, the whole Church is “required” to live the third phase, the implementation, of the synod, he continued.
This new process and its steps “constitute a map for the conversion and renewal of the Church in a synodal sense,” Grech said. “All the work that awaits us in these next three years is inspired by the contents of this document, which must be experimented with, in order to verify the possibility of realizing them in the life of the Church.”
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All well and good, but not unlike the half-blessing of irregular “couples,” a platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinusis!) is an irregular half mammal with half marine features (like laying eggs)…
Is the town hall meeting or “assembly” now happily distinct again from hybrid “synodality,” or are synods-of-bishops displaced and no longer functional? Is the ongoing (?) assembly the Germaniac ongoing Trojan Horse, der Synodal Weg, now stabled in Rome?
Would like to see CNA “explain” things apart from Cardinal Grech’s talking points. Recalling, here, two earlier and relevant insights of Singapore’s Cardinal Goh (April 2024): https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2024/05/03/cardinal-goh-of-singapore-deep-encounter-with-jesus-is-key-to-passing-on-the-faith/
FIRST, “But I don’t believe that we should try to compromise the Gospel. And that is my fear: that, today, even Church leaders are compromising the Gospel. I don’t think Jesus ever compromised the Gospel, even for the adulterous woman. He says, ‘I do not judge you, I do not condemn you, but please sin no more.’ I think that has to be mentioned. This is where the importance of truthfulness, mercy, and compassion [comes in].”
SECOND: “…as has often been said, or some bishops are suggesting, perhaps there should be another level where it is really a Synod of Bishops, after hearing the laypeople, after journeying with them; there should be that level of bishop synods, where the bishops can come together, because that synod [with laity] cannot really be considered a theological dogmatic synod, because not all are theologically trained.”
Very well said. I, too, share the concern that in this Synodal process, the gospel is being watered down and the governance of the Church compromised by considering the professed religious and lay people on an equal footing with bishops. The Synod of Bishops should be just that. They are the only official teachers of the Church, as determined by Jesus Himself. He gave no other body the authority to teach His commands. I am concerned that this Synodal process is a subservient process to water down Church doctrine and moral teachings.
To paraphrase the reported (but probably fictional) words of Henry II concerning St Thomas of Canterbury: Who will rid us of this turbulent process?
This Vatican might be likened to the Tower of Babel where language no longer has meaning or relevance. There is a profusion of “words” that emanates from this Pontificate none of which helps shepherd Christ’s flock. These Synodal Assemblies of “here comes everybody” is like bureaucratic government gone amok. It reminds me of the bad old days of the 60’s and 70’s when parents abdicated their adult roles in the family and children assumed equal status with parents. We’re now seeing the fruits of that madness in the narcissism of our current cohort of adults which is so evident these days in the Church. This won’t turn out well.
In addition, planning these synodaling event aka assemblies into the future might well be an attempt to define the next papacy. In fact, I would NOT be at all surprised to learn that the fix is already in and the next pope has already been decided upon (something like how Karmala Harris became the candidate for the Dems).
Oh come now, DeaconEdPeitler, why so down on the multiplication of words?
But, yes, instead of a “profusion of ‘words'”, all we really need is a concise acronym for a big tent Church whose center post and stakeholders, both, are everywhere! No longer a Eucharistic and therefore “hierarchical communion” (Lumen Gentium), but mostly geographical and global!
Surely, “not a parliament,” but maybe still a [CO]ngress of sorts; that is, maybe a continuous theology-on-tap or permanent [V]atican III]; and surely not exclusive, or doctrinal, or definitive, or even coherent, but maybe only a fluid process [I]n the “style” of mutual-admiration [d]ialogue…
In a word, something both new and catching, and memorable, like COVID-2028?
You’ve outdone yourself here, Peter.
Like little children who do not get their way the first time, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, they will not stop in 2028 either.
Welcome to the Church as the permanent globalist Woodstock Nation, pronouncing its new Jesus. In the words of Niebuhr: “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.”
Right on Deacon you got it right. Jesus warned us;“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. Mt 7:15
Samuel, in my reading of the Gospels, I’ve never gotten the impression that our Savior, Jesus Christ, was afflicted with the condition known as logorrhea as so many of our hierarchs are.
I believe I discovered “how the stuff works” during the local ‘S of S’ sessions, months ago. I will describe it here because too many believe that “multiplication of words” while being annoying does not pose a real danger to the life of the Church.
If before the model of managing the Church was “I decided – you have to obey” now it is considered to be old fashioned. Instead, “the masses” must decide – so it is tirelessly proclaimed. Both methods can be good and bad, in my opinion. They can both be good if the absolute measure of all decisions is the Person of Jesus Christ. That means, nothing contrary to our faith will be decided – and also nothing contrary to a normal human psyche. Take a case with Rupnik for example and place Rupnik and others, who keep him in the Church, before Our Lord – the decision is clear. Imagine Christ speaking to the Sisters whom Rupnik violated – again, all is clear: one must not violate human persons and even more so in the Church; the offender must be thrown out/defrocked because via his actions he made himself a filthy person unfit to serve at the altar; the victims must be provided with support and healing. It is both good theology and good psychology (which in the Person of Christ become one).
The most important: in both cases, “I decide” or “we decide” there must be Someone above – Christ, God. As long as He is the objective measure of decisions all is OK. However, Christ was dealt away, He is now out of the scope. Hence, we lost the objective Judge of what is good and what is bad or better to say not the Judge but the Person WHO makes good and bad painfully clear, via His presence.
The people who are now “managing” the Church still believe “I decide – you will obey” in their hearts. But to look “nice” they cover it with “we (masses) will decide” – yet they want to do their own will only. How is it done? – Via saying “Yes, I hear you” and then act as if nothing ever was said.
And so, we have nave the suffocating new scheme: “We have a problem – I want to hear from you – Excellent idea! – I am going on as if nothing has been said but trumpet about “listening””. This is literally what I have encountered, not just during the local ‘S of S’ but also during my personal interactions with the clergy slightly higher than a low level. The showcase of that new phenomenon was me pointing at a blasphemous “installation” in the cathedral saying that it must be removed because it is disrespectful to Christ. “Oh yes, you are right, it is horrible indeed, I will remove it before the Sunday Mass”. It has never been removed. “I hear you – I will do – going on my merry way as if nothing was said” has been repeated on other, similar occasions. The fact that I am a specialist in a liturgical art = qualified to make such corrections did not make any difference. My qualifications propelled a priest to go at length about how lucky he was to have such a specialist around and how much he would like to learn blah blah blah. He tried to flatter me; it was beyond him to understand that I do not care. I cared about Christ and a restoration of a proper liturgical space; he cared about pleasing me thus he was unable to hear me. Speaking as a psychologist, he wanted my approval of him and for that purpose he tried to tickle my ego; he failed to understand that he would get my “approval” only if he corrected the blasphemous installation. In fact if he did correct it he would do it for Christ, not for me and thus would get an incomparably bigger approval. But he does not get it.
I appreciate much of what you say. I’ve always hated to concede anything to Catholic dissidents, but one argument they made in the past for a married priesthood was that ordained men go through their whole lives without anyone willing to say to them that they are capable of being a fool from time to time, and this distorts their entire world view, and personal maturity. They have a point. But it ultimately fails because we owe it to the ordained to tell them when they’re fools. This might help rescue them from their habits of vanity, especially as they move up the ladder and can do real harm.
Anna, excellent, indeed!
Word salad.
Exactly!
We are so blessed with the Word of God in the Sacred Scriptures, with the Sacraments, with the true Magisterium handed down through the ages. Synod,synodal, synodaling. What in the world does it all mean? And who needs it?
What might we expect that differs from what has preceded if not unilateral decisions narrowed to the personal preferences of the chosen few? The blessed Amici Curiae. No need for wild guesses.
There won’t be mega earthquakes like formal change of doctrine, rather something more subtle, in line of precedence of what Christian Brugger and Fr Ryan described as ‘inclinations’ contrary to divine revelation.
See Father Murray’s column today on The Catholic Thing regarding ecclesial assembly.
I second the “word salad” mishmash open to meaning whatever….however, it clearly is meant to be superior to, and sit in judgement over, even a synod of Bishops, even though it will be muchly a non-clergy assembly.
Who knows? Who cares?
We all should know and care very deeply because this “process” if left unchecked, will drive the Church into irrelevance, indistinguishable from every other Protestant community, with no clear guiding principles and meeting all “where they are” with no regard for the concepts of repentance and holiness. Jess said, “Be holy as My Father is holy.” Who will know what that means anymore?
Dr. Dobbins, It’s the VATICAN that will be driven to irrelevance, The true Catholic CHURCH will never become irrelevant (Matthew 16:18).
Is the intent& purpose, the objective to conform the world to God or to conform God to the world? Traditions favors the former, the progressive, not so much, if at all.
Two items seem to move this synodal path: Evaluation and experimentation. In the use of proper reason, evaluation comes before deciding. For example, in the exercise of the human conscience, the judgment of the practical intellect, one considers the principles of faith and reason to evaluate the action’s rightness and wrongness, and then “decides” on a course of action. Only stalwart progressives put evaluation after deciding because there is never a firm decision in the process, just a process; just a continuous evaluation and a never-ending evolution and development. That is why the contents of every synodal document will always require further experimentation and a continuous synodal way. As I think on this, I still try to consider what the endgame is. While for progressives there is always an agenda and a path in place of a goal, the practical implementation of the synodal way must seek the eventual replacement of orthodox bishops (who are litmus tested through their lack of synodal implementation). They are eventually removed to make way for synodal drainlayers who each support an ecclesial congress of the laity. Yet, if this implementation is successful over time (progressives are very patient once they have stopped crying), they may also succeed in forcing and creating their own underground church. At the ground level, below the “celestial” synod, authentic Catholics are already asking, “If these things happen universally, where will be go?”
The “endgame”?
Rather than simply state it, there are some clericalist operatives who would have the Church simply at back into it.
The “Queer-Church-Bureaucracy” messages its “eternal processes” to pursue the goal of The McCarrick Establishment, The High Church of The Decapitated Body.
From the start, this synodal process has been designed to lead the Church to a place where it will no longer be founded on a Rock but on a hill of sand. The firm doctrine and teachings based on the Gospel and apostolic tradition are being replaced with a muddied “everything goes” approach. If you want to be in a same-sex relationship, “who am I to judge?” governs. Everything appears to be on the table for consideration. That is not what Jesus taught. That is not why He founded His Church. We seem to forget it is still His Church. He did not give it away to Pope Francis to change as His Eminence desires. Jesus’ teachings are quite clear and the Apostolic traditions, inspired by the Holy Spirit, have kept on the right path for 2000 years. It takes an extreme degree of pride and self-focus to think you can do otherwise. We needed fidelity, not synodality.
It is commonly overlooked that early in Francis’ pontificate, when Walter Kasper was frequently called “the Pope’s theologian,” Francis endorsed Kasper’s infamous essay from 1968, of process theology advancing the notion that even God is incomplete and in the process of learning how to be God through history. Therefore, there are no truly immutable truths.
The HRCAC has been around for some 2000+ years and now we are told that it is in error and must be reinvented. What a bunch of fools!
Dr. Robbins above – Translation of “Who know? Who cares?” – I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with this nonsense.
Praying for a pope who has a clue that there is real work that needs doing.
The Church has the responsibility to pass on the One,Holy,Catholic Faith given to her by the apostles. There is little to add after 2000 years. Novelty, from any source, is a sign of unfaithfulness to the mission and betrayal of our Lord.
Sticking to the essentials: When you hear the word “Synod”, think “following in the footsteps of the Anglicans.”