What is the Synod on Synodality?

Synod on synodality

Is the Synod on Synodality the most important moment for the Church since the Second Vatican Council, as one high-ranking Vatican source believes?

I’d love to tell you I know exactly what was in front of me October 2 at its reopening in the late afternoon, but that wouldn’t be accurate.

For now, this synod seems like a blend between a traditional gathering of bishops and the Church’s exploration of new communication techniques. It’s as if Justinian were meeting a Silicon Valley “dialogue facilitator.”

The synodal environment

Sitting with a few journalists in the balcony of Paul VI Hall, a few meters from St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, I watch as Church leaders take their places around round tables.

According to the Holy See’s communications office, there are 36 tables, though I count 38.

A few women and other “non-bishops” have been invited, but the assembly – 350 present out of 368 invited – remains largely composed of red (cardinals) and purple (bishops).

A touch of green: 12 plastic palm trees line the hall, like the Apostles.

The decoration and setup somewhat resemble a wedding.

Around an honor table, slightly elevated, sit a few high-ranking officials, including Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech (pro-secretary general of the Synod of Bishops), his Luxembourgish counterpart Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich (rapporteur of this Synod), the Pope, and Sister Nathalie Becquart (undersecretary of the general secretariat of the Synod).

One woman among these men, just like at each table in this “second session of the XVI Ordinary Synod of Bishops.”

“The presence of members who are not bishops does not diminish the ‘episcopal’ dimension of the assembly,” said Francis.

Papal hopes

What does that mean? Listening to the Pope speak of “harmony” (he used the word 12 times on October 2), one might almost imagine the assembly breaking into song—a choir from around the world, searching, until October 27, for perfect harmony.

The image might not be so far off: in Paul VI Hall, each day begins with psalm singing, and there is caution not to confuse dissonances with the expression of differences: “We are asked to practice together in the art of symphony,” said the Pope.

In the Byzantine era, “symphony” was an ideal of understanding between the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Emperor, the first among the laity.

We are no longer there, but the synodality desired by Francis touches on a very ancient question in the Church’s history: Who holds authority? The Pope or the Synod of Bishops?

Without hesitation, the Synod of Bishops answered a high-ranking Orthodox official invited as an observer during the first session in October 2023.

His reservations about the Roman Assembly were based on two aspects: first, the presence of laypeople (which helps explain the Pope’s remark on the “episcopal” character); second, the fact that it is not “a deliberative assembly” but only consultative.

Who decides?

“The understanding of synodality in the Orthodox Church is very different from the definition of synodality given by your Assembly,” said Archbishop Job Getcha, Metropolitan of Pisidia.

It’s hard to imagine a bishop declaring that the Pope is just one voice among others, in this October 2024 setting in Rome, as happened at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, for instance.

The Vatican’s communications office has not yet decided what to call the conclusions of this October session—a final document “which may not even be called a ‘final document,’” it said during a press conference.

There is but one certainty: at the end of the debates, the Pope will make the final decision.

  • First published in La Croix
  • Mikael Corre is a journalist and senior reporter at La Croix L’Hebdo
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