Pope Francis Extends The Synod On Synodality To 2024: What Does It Mean For The Church's Future?
(ANALYSIS) Pope Francis has decided to divide the church’s Synod of Bishops into two sessions, one next October and a second in October 2024, in order to “promote the understanding of synodality as a constitutive dimension of the church and help everyone to live it as the journey of brothers and sisters who proclaim the joy of the Gospel.”
The decision, which the pope announced on Oct. 16, was made “in order to have a more relaxed period of discernment.”
“The fruits of the synodal process underway are many, but so that they might come to full maturity, it is necessary not to be in a rush," he added.
Read: Catholic Bishops Meet In Secret To Discuss ‘Culture War’ Issues
Francis’ decision surprised most and led some Catholic observers to decry that this was this pope’s “Vatican III.” The announcement came as the church commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.
The Synod on Synodality started in 2021 and was originally a two-year process. Officially known as “Synod 2021-2023: For a Synodal Church,” it is a process that allows bishops to consult with Catholics — from parishioners all the way up to priests — in a spirit of collaboration and openness. This includes official dialogue with some activists who actively dissent from church teachings.
It was in March 2020, on the eve of the pandemic, that Francis announced the original synod timeline. It was quickly forgotten as the world battled the outbreak of COVID-19. The Vatican even set up a Twitter account for the synod.
Vatican II, which took place between 1962 and 1965, was opened by Pope John XXIII and closed by Pope Paul VI. Delegates from around the world modernized the church, producing a series of documents that affected many aspects of church life.
Among some of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new liturgy in local languages to replace the Latin Mass and the opening of the church to dialogue with other faith traditions.
The need to extend this synod could be, as UK-based The Tablet reported, that the pope “believes more time is needed for the synodal way to become embedded in the life of the church, and is an implicit recognition of the resistance to the process. It also seeks to tackle the mentality in some quarters that the synod will soon be ‘over.’”
In fact, this process — and whatever may come of it — could be Pope Francis’ legacy. But the specter of a “Vatican III” that could turn this process into an even bigger ideological clash is something some Catholics fear.
Writing in Catholic Culture, writer Phil Lawler argued that not the opinions of all have been heard. He noted the following:
Did you participate in the diocesan discussions leading up to next year’s Synod of Bishops? Neither did I.
Were you invited to discussion groups and listening sessions? Neither was I.
Oh, there were official announcements, no doubt, in diocesan newspapers and even parish bulletins. But like the vast majority of American Catholics, I paid them no notice. No one sought me out personally, to invite my participation. Which is fine with me, because — as I have explained more than once in the past — I have profound misgivings about this synod and the awkward, time-consuming, self-referential process it has begotten.
To put that into further context, Lawler wrote noted that U.S. bishops estimated that 700,000 people had participated in the process.
No doubt that estimate is high, not only because event organizers always tend to inflate attendance statistics, but also because the figures include such anomalies as the entire classes of parochial-school children who were listed as participants rather than as (what was probably closer to the truth) captive audiences. Still the number seems impressive — until one recalls that there are nearly 67 million Catholics living in the United States, so that the participants represented about 1% of the total.
In September, The Pillar reported that Catholics who took part in the process have “called for the church to become more welcoming, to better form believers for mission, and to continue conducting listening sessions for both practicing and disaffected Catholics in American parishes and dioceses.”
In a 16-page report, the bishops also noted that Catholics are divided along theological and political lines.
Those who fear that the Vatican may embrace more liberal ideologies have a point, but could also be lending too much weight to this entire process. It was over the summer that Cardinal Mario Grech, chief organizer of the Catholic Church’s Synod on Synodality, said he did “not agree with the method used by the critics" of the German synod process in an interview with the German publication Herder Thema.
“I think a fraternal correction and dialogue is very positive,” he said. “But why a public denunciation? It doesn't help. It only polarizes further.”
The German bishops, for example, have said they are open to allowing for divorced Catholics who are remarried to receive Holy Communion and for priests to oversee same-sex marriages.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, a German theologian who is close to Pope Francis, said in June 2022 that the German process is at risk of “breaking its own neck” if it does not heed the objections raised by other bishops.
Last April, more than 100 cardinals and bishops released an open letter to German bishops warning that sweeping changes to church doctrine could lead to schism.
Clemente Lisi is a senior editor at Religion Unplugged and teaches journalism at The King’s College in New York City. He is the author of “The FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet's Biggest Sporting Event.” Follow him on Twitter @ClementeLisi.