Timeline for Synodal process
Synod organizers say process should lead to greater local control in Catholic Church
April 20, 2023
Organizers of Pope Francis' ongoing consultation with Catholics around the world said that, following recent discussion assemblies on each continent, there is a growing consensus that the process for the ongoing Synod of Bishops should result in the Vatican giving more deference to local church authorities.
"There is, in fact, more than one way of being the church," said Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of Perth, Australia, who said that a significant feature of synodality is the understanding that unity does not call for uniformity within the Catholic Church. The report formed the basis of the continental meetings that, according to Costelloe, evidenced widespread enthusiasm for this new era of openness and dialogue. "It's really a synod on how the church, as it grows in its understanding of being a synodal church, can find more productive or more fruitful ways of beginning to grapple with all of these issues," he said.
Two of the major questions that are being reckoned with through the synod process are what should be decided at each level of the church and how to maintain the church's unity, with room for flexibility and local adaptations. Beyond the confines of the institutional church, speakers at the press conference highlighted that the process has sought to engage those outside of Catholicism and those coming from other Christian traditions. "Synodality and ecumenism are in fact two paths that have a common goal: a better witness of Christians today, 'so that the world believes,'
From April 12-19, a team of some 20 bishops, priests, pastoral workers and theologians from five continents met in Rome to review final synthesis reports from the seven continental gatherings and to begin drafting the synod's working document, known as the Instrumentum Laboris, which will serve as the basis for discussions in Rome this October. The goal is to publish the document by the end of May.