Implementation

I had been following the Bishops’ Synod on Synodality 2021-2024, previously led by Pope Francis. In the first phase, The Consultation of the People of God, all Catholics, laypersons and leadership, were invited, in short, to communally discuss and pray about their concerns relating to the Catholic Church. The second phase of the Catholic Church’s Synodal process was the Discernment of the Pastors, composed of sessions which included meetings in Rome, mostly with Bishops but with others invited. I am thankful Pope Francis was able to complete this phase of his undertaking and issue a note with the final document (link HERE) that declares it part of the papal magisterium (more HERE).

I admit I had been under the wrong impression about the nomenclature of the phases when I gave links to the Synod website in the past. It seemed to me that the discussions and reports of all Catholics, started in 2021, and the following meetings in Rome, finished in 2024, were both part of the first Synod phase. Please forgive me if the descriptions I gave caused confusion, but anyone going to the website can sort out each of the phases. In any case, though the dates “2021-2024” attached to the Synod title imply that the Synod had a limited scope, Pope Francis desired that the process of synodality be an ongoing undertaking for all members of the Church. I imagine he would have liked to stick around for further stages, but apparently God had other plans.

Nevertheless, our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, had been active in previous phases of synodality and is now presiding over the Synodal leadership, as shown in this post’s photo from an article in Vatican News HERE. This group is encouraging churches to follow through with the third phase of the Synod, known as the Implementation Phase, and has provided resources on the Synod site HERE.