Synod on Synodality 2.0 in Rome: What will happen in the Vatican over the next few weeks

The Synod on Synodality is meeting in Rome - for the second time. From 30 September to 27 October, several hundred bishops and some lay people from all over the world will meet in the Vatican. Once again, the synod assembly will not take place in the Vatican Synod Hall, but in the Audience Hall. This has to do with the large number of participants. While previous synods have usually only invited bishops, this time non-bishops are also taking part. A total of 368 synod members have the right to vote, of which 272 are bishops and 96 are not bishops - 45 of them are women. From Germany, the Chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, Bishop Felix Genn of Münster, Bishop Bertram Meier of Augsburg, Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau, Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of the Ruhr and Bohdan Dzyurakh, Apostolic Exarch of the Catholic Ukrainians of the Byzantine rite living in Germany and Scandinavia, will be present.

Last year, the colourful mix of the gathering already brought about interesting encounters: those who were far removed from church politics posed for photos together, opposing positions were discussed and participants established new networks. Most of the content did not get out and probably won't this year either, because: The Vatican has once again imposed an information blackout. The synod members are not allowed to report on requests to speak, discussions and votes in the assembly hall. This is intended to strengthen the communal spirit and create a framework of trust, according to the synod organisers led by Cardinal Mario Grech.

The second Roman Synod on Synodality Assembly will kick off with two days of reflection in the Vatican from 30 September. On the eve of the grand opening ceremony, a penitential servicewill be held in St Peter's Basilica. Victims of marginalisation and violence will also have their say during this service. The session phase begins on 2 October. It will be solemnly opened with a mass in St Peter's Square.

Daily schedule of the Synod

The substantive work of the Synod then begins. As a rule, the synod members meet Monday to Saturday at 8.45 a.m. in the Audience Hall for a morning prayer. They then work - interrupted by a three-and-a-half-hour lunch break - until 7.30 pm. Once a week, the synod members celebrate the Eucharist together in St Peter's Basilica. Saturday afternoons and Sundays are usually free. During this time, they are invited to visit Roman parishes. In addition, conferences, networking meetings and receptions will also fill their diaries during their free hours.

The agenda corresponds to the topics of the synod's working paper, the so-called Instrumentum laboris. The synod members will use this outline to work out what will be presented to the Pope at the end of the four weeks as proposals for reform and action. In four working sessions lasting several days, the synod members will focus on individual aspects of the working document. A fifth major session at the end is planned for the final vote.

The working method of the Synod is a mixture of dialogue and meditation. This "spiritual conversation" (alternation of speeches and prayers without direct interaction) was also used last year. In moderated small groups of 10 to 12 people each, everyone can make statements lasting up to three minutes, followed by silence. Large countdown clocks help to maintain the balance. Afterwards, the impressions of what has been heard are discussed one after the other and then - after a further period of silence - a summary of what has been said and felt is prepared for the general assembly.

Last year, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, who has experience of synods, summarised that there would probably be more peace in the world if politicians also worked in the same way as the Synod on Synodality in the Vatican. Synod members from all church-political camps reported an atmosphere of intensive listening. But many of them also said: It takes a lot of nerve to listen to the other position without contradiction. Others also perceived the method as time-consuming and not very effective.

Synodality and democracy

According to the Vatican, the declared aim of the synod is to utilise the synergies between the laity, bishops and the Pope in order to involve everyone according to their function. Rome has clear ideas on this: "The consultation of the people of God in no way entails the adoption of the principles of democracy, which are based on the majority principle, within the Church."

After the synod was clearly disconnected from the outside world in Rome last year, the Vatican synod planners have scheduled two major themed evenings at which experts will explain and discuss synodality from different perspectives. Non-synod members are also invited to these evenings.

This opening up of the synod world makes clear what Pope Francis has given his synod planners: All should be heard, all should participate. The Pope and synod planners repeated this invitation to participate in countless variations. After all, the synod is supposed to talk about how the Church deals with each other and explore new ways of working together and making decisions. To this end, a number of participation formats have been tried out since the start of the Synod on Synodality in autumn 2021. The three-year process is considered a project close to Francis' heart. The Vatican consulted the faithful in their dioceses and at country and continental level. The results of these meetings were repeatedly sent to Rome, summarised there and sent out again for reading all over the world. Based on the resulting feedback, the first plenary assembly of the Synod on Synodality met in Rome last year.

It also produced a paper with wishes and suggestions. One of the wishes was that local priests should be more involved in the process, as interest in the Synod on Synodality at grassroots level was rather restrained. Feedback from the individual surveys was mostly in the lower percentage range. The Vatican therefore invited several hundred priests to Rome at the end of April 2024 to hear their everyday experiences. Their reports will now play a role in the synod assembly.

With all these offers of participation, the Roman synod planners never tired of pointing out that the Synod on Synodality should be purely about togetherness and not about factual or even reform issues. However, it soon became clear that the synod was not taking place in a vacuum. Again and again, the lack of leadership competence of the clergy, the question of the role of women, the lack of faith formation in parishes, sexual abuse, poverty, persecution, climate change, the inculturation of the liturgy and many other topics were the subject of discussions. Although the Vatican repeatedly tried to focus on the meta-topic of "synodality", whenever the basic question of "How do we want to be church together?" was discussed, the synod members quickly ended up discussing substantive issues.

After four weeks of deliberations, the first Roman meeting of the Synod on Synodality also finally asked the Pope to examine possible reforms and changes to canon law. The final paper is in favour of efforts to change sexual morality and to use understandable and gender-appropriate language in church services. On the issue of women's access to church ordained ministries, the text records differing opinions that did not result in a consensus. The document also formulates the desire for greater decentralisation of the church with national and continental bishops' assemblies and greater participation of lay people in the appointment of bishops.

In March, Pope Francis then surprisingly decided to leave some of the most controversial issues to groups of experts - including, for example, the question of the ordination of female deacons. An interim result is now to be presented in Rome. Recently, the Vatican synod organiser Cardinal Mario Grech explained that the postponement of the discussion was intended to avoid an eternal repetition in the assembly hall. The Pope has heard that these issues are pressing and is now taking care of them. The synod could now return to the topic of synodality, said Grech. The decision caused astonishment among synod members. Progressive forces suspected a delaying tactic by the Vatican. Synodality experts such as Venezuelan theologian Rafael Luciani, who is part of the synod organisation team, refuted this accusation.

At the autumn plenary assembly of the German Bishops' Conference last week, DBK head Georg Bätzing criticised the fact that the topics of the Synod on Synodality had been narrowed down. "Although this is understandable, it often makes it difficult for participants to bring up what is on their minds and in their hearts." In particular, the Synod on Synodality must take "concrete steps" on the issue of women's participation in the church, Bätzing added. He would like the Catholic Church to make it possible for women to be ordained to the diaconate.

The topics of the meeting

Instead of the notorious "hot potatoes", the working paper of the forthcoming Synod on Synodality round mainly emphasises atmospheric issues. Fundamentally, it asks about the relationship between communion and diversity in the church. But the relationship between the local church and the universal church, as well as between the laity and the clergy, also plays a role. In particular, the question of decision-making processes and transparency is given a lot of space in the working paper. In the coming weeks, the synod members will also discuss how the principle of transparency and accountability could also apply to the highest level of the hierarchy in future: for example, it is proposed that the Pope should only promulgate laws after joint consultations in future.

Whether and how these endeavours will bear fruit is assessed differently by observers. Canon law expert Norbert Lüdecke, for example, criticises the impression that synodality has anything remotely to do with democratic co-determination. Lüdecke speaks of "symbolic participation" and "substitutes for democracy", which ultimately lead to frustration and fatigue among the people of the church.

Portuguese Curia Cardinal Jose Tolentino de Mendonca, on the other hand, sees the introduction of synodal consultations in the Catholic Church as a forward-looking change. It is about no longer seeing the Church as a pyramid, but as a living organism. The Synod on Synodality will help to clearly recognise this and it will have far-reaching consequences for the future.

German church officials are also pinning their hopes on the deliberations of the Synod on Synodality. A delegation from the Central Committee of German Catholics recently travelled to Rome and, among other things, promoted the "Synodal Way" reform project. The Synod on Synodality shows that the German reform topics are global issues and that the Vatican cannot ignore them, representatives of the Presidium repeatedly emphasise.

Bishop Stefan Oster is convinced that the German side can certainly contribute special perspectives. This includes, for example, "that we have long had good structures for the participation of lay people in church life", he told the "Passauer Bistumsblatt". It also seems to him that Germany has already taken important steps in recognising and coming to terms with sexual abuse, which many local churches in other countries still have to do.

This is also the view of Jesuit and publicist Andreas R. Batlogg. He recently expressed optimism that the second session of the Synod on Synodality will lead to concrete results and changes. Pope Francis will not be able to simply ignore strong votes as he did after the Amazon Synod, he said in an interview.

In the end, the Pope decides

The Pope proved that he can very well ignore issues, not least at the Amazon Synod, when he did not allow the request for married men to be ordained to the priesthood in his final letter. The Synod on Synodality is now beginning its work. The requests it makes to the Pope will be revealed at the end of October. Which of these requests the Pope will accept in a sovereign decision will probably only become clear at the beginning of 2025 when the post-synodal letter is published.