This double ceremony does not bring the synod to an end: on the one hand, 10 working groups will be working on questions that were too delicate to be decided in haste; on the other hand, the final document opens a new phase of life in the Church, proposing orientations that are already provoking various reactions.

The synod has already taken an atypical course. Opened by Pope Francis in October 2021 in Rome and by similar ceremonies in the particular Churches, the 1^st Instrumentum Laboris was issued in August-September 2022, bringing together the contributions of this pre-synodal phase. After a period (September 2022 - March 2023) of local and regional synods, the 2^nd Instrumentum Laboris was drafted in preparation for the 1^st Session (October 2023) of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which resulted in a report entitled ‘A Synodal Church in Mission’.

Given to the local Churches of each country and diocese and to other bodies, the report enabled the faithful, bishops, priests and any other interested body to discuss and formulate recommendations which became the content of the 3^rd Instrumentum Laboris of the 2^nd Session of the Assembly from 2 - 27 October 2024. This 2^nd Session, called to deepen the themes of the 1^st Session, was to culminate in a final document that would present Pope Francis with recommendations that the Pope would take up or not in an apostolic exhortation.

The final document of the Synod

This 52-page document, approved by the 355 members of the Synod by a two-thirds majority vote, contains proposals for the renewal of the Church: an expanded role for women, greater participation of the laity in decision-making and structural reforms. Organised into five sections that call for five forms of conversion - spiritual, relational, procedural, institutional and missionary - it calls for the strengthening of pastoral councils at parish and diocesan levels, advocates regular ecclesiastical assemblies at all levels in the Church and for ecumenical dialogue.

It advocates a concept of synodal authority, because ‘the authority of the bishop, the college of bishops and the bishop of Rome’ is ‘inviolable’, but it is not ‘without limits’. This implies a revision of Canon Law to clarify ‘the distinction and relationship between consultation and deliberation’ and the responsibility of ‘different roles’ in decision-making.

The document affirms that there is ‘no reason or obstacle’ preventing women's leadership in the Church, although ‘the question of women's access to the diaconal ministry remains open’. The participation of women in the training of clergy and their greater involvement in the decision-making processes of the Church, as well as the role of the lay faithful in the governance of the Church, are considerably expanded. Finally, the Synod proposes new procedures for the selection and evaluation of bishops.

In his address to the final session of the Synod, Pope Francis declared that the synodal journey had been ‘completed’ and that the implementation phase had begun, because synodality is a ‘constitutive dimension of the Church’. He will not be publishing a post-synodal apostolic exhortation, but he unreservedly adopted the final document, which contains ‘very concrete indications’ for implementing the conclusions of the assembly.

In doing so, a new vision of the exercise of papal authority and a new way of being Church were announced, which provoked both praise: François fait entrer l’Église dans le troisième millénaire (Francis brings the Church into the third millennium) and a negative reaction: are we heading vers un collectivisme ecclésial laïcisé et féminisé ? (towards a secularised and feminised ecclesial collectivism?) So the final document of the Synod - “Per una Chiesa sinodale: comunione, partecipazione, missione”, for the moment only in its Italian version –

is already the subject of different approaches? We need only mention three of them.  

A reductive approach

ALETEIA, always critical of a Church considered too traditionalist, headlines its commentary, Synod: the five most disputed articles of the Final Document (Synode : les cinq articles les plus contestés du Document final). These are the articles voted on and adopted by a two-thirds majority, but contested by a minority. These articles are long and complex: it is difficult to identify which parts are contested, but ALETEIA picks and chooses.

For example, in article 60, which speaks of the equal dignity, by virtue of Baptism, of men and women, and calls for greater recognition of women's charisms, their vocation and their place in the Church, ALETEIA only stops at ‘reflection on the female diaconate’, which is still open.

Article 125, which is very articulate, speaks of Episcopal Conferences, which ‘express and realise the collegiality of the bishops’, for communion between Churches and effective pastoral service. ALETEIA focuses only on ‘the doctrinal authority of the Bishops’ Conferences’.

There is a link between liturgy and synodality, and article 27 speaks of the plurality of cultures and traditions to be adopted so that the Church's celebrations have a synodal face and are more expressive. ALETEIA refers only to a ‘more synodal liturgy and preaching’.

In article 148, the Assembly calls for the revision of the Ratio Fundamentalis for priestly formation, provides for the presence of women in the training of priests, their integration into the daily life of communities, and education in collaboration and the missio ad gentes. ‘No less necessary is the formation of bishops, so that they can ‘better assume their mission’ and ‘exercise their authority in a synodal style’. ALETEIA reduces the article to ‘More women in seminaries’.

Finally, article 92 reaffirms that ‘the hierarchical structure of the Church’ is inalienable, but adds that ‘it is not unconditional’. A consultative process through participatory bodies is necessary and ‘an opposition between consultation and deliberation is therefore inappropriate’. The merely consultative vote referred to in Canon Law must ‘be examined to eliminate any ambiguities’. ALETEIA speaks only of ‘deliberative bodies to support the bishops’.

A critical approach

On the more traditionalist side, the Tribune chrétienne wonders whether the synod's steps are faithful to the spirit of the Church or whether they herald an ‘era that could move away from the foundations faithful to the Spirit’: the final document ‘raises profound questions about the very identity of the Catholic Church’. Here is a list of some of them.

• The members of the Synod voted on each paragraph of the document dealing with sensitive issues: the accumulated role of women, the importance of lay participation, collective decision-making. By adopting this document as it stands, approved by a democratic vote without publishing an Apostolic Exhortation, the Pope has placed it ‘at the heart of the Magisterium of the Church’. Doesn't this undermine papal authority? 
• The document states that ‘there is no reason to prevent women from assuming leadership roles in the Church’, isn't this ‘a slippery slope that could threaten the sacramental structure of the Church?’
• In the document, lay people are given a prominent place, participating more actively in synod assemblies and discernment processes. While their commitment is laudable, is it not imperative to ask: at what cost?
• The final document calls for a balance between synodal authority and episcopal authority. What is the meaning of this ‘synodal authority’? Is it consistent with the principle of hierarchy in the Catholic Church?
• The document calls for a broad consultation that includes voices from outside the Catholic Church. Opening up to other Churches is beneficial, but doesn't it risk diluting Catholic doctrine? Are we in the process of sacrificing the foundations of the faith for a more collective and less doctrinal approach?

Pope Francis declares that ‘the synodal path is complete’. La Tribune Chrétienne wonders: ‘it is legitimate to wonder about the future of the Church’, because these proposals, while laudable, ‘could mean a departure from the Church's true mission’.

An ideological approach

The five new features that will guide the governance of the Catholic Church (Les cinq nouveautés qui vont guider la gouvernance de l'Église catholique), writes Jean-Marie Guénois for Le Figaro.

The first innovation. Giving more responsibilities to lay people is an unprecedented decentralisation of ecclesial decision-making. ‘The pugnacity of 58 women, with the support of numerous prelates, means that the promotion of women in the Church is irreversible, even if the ordination of women deacons was badly voted. By participating in the formation and discernment of candidate priests, women are assuming a very relevant role.

The second is less spectacular but extremely significant: Pope Francis promulgated the text voted by the assembly without an apostolic exhortation that could modify or exclude measures voted by the synod. In this way, the synod document becomes an act of magisterium available to all. Faithful to his method, Francis is experimenting with reforms as he goes along, and this synod, which promised to bring spectacular reforms, is therefore a kind of experiment for the whole Church: it must change its working methods and decision-making processes by adopting the synodal method, of which Francis is setting an example of democratic practice, even though the Vatican has reminded that this document is not prescriptive.

The third innovation. This ecclesial process, in which everyone has a say, implies control and ‘evaluations’ by all those who exercise responsibilities: parish priests, bishops, apostolic nuncios, bishops' conference, Roman dicasteries. ‘Transparency and accountability should not only be demanded in cases of sexual, financial or other abuse’, says one proposal. They also concern the lifestyle of pastors, pastoral plans, methods of evangelisation and the way in which the Church respects the dignity of the human person. Even the ‘synodality’ and ‘performance’ of ministries and missions within the Church will be subject to evaluation to check ‘the progress made’. The ‘diocesan pastoral council, parish pastoral council, councils for economic affairs’ provided for in Canon Law could therefore be made ‘obligatory’.

The fourth. Lay people will be able to celebrate ‘baptisms and marriages’; only the homily of lay people, and of women, has not received sufficient support to be formalised. While lay people are valued, bishops are somewhat desacralised, not in their spiritual responsibility but in their human fallibility: the faithful must not ‘cultivate excessive and unrealistic expectations of the bishop’, who is also a fragile brother. Therefore ‘more courageous discernment of what belongs properly to the ordained ministry and what can and must be delegated to others’ must be exercised.

The fifth innovation: subsidiarity between the Vatican and the local Churches could upset the highly centralised balance of the Holy See. This was the aim of the seven ‘continental ecclesial assemblies’ held in 2023 to prepare for this synod. This new organisational scheme requires a more clearly defined theological and canonical status, ‘so that its potential can be exploited for the further development of a synodal Church’. The Vatican will no longer be dominant vis-à-vis the bishops’ conferences, since “before publishing important normative documents, the [Roman] Dicasteries are invited” to consult the bishops’ conferences. There is a need therefore to identify the matters reserved to the Pope and ‘those that can be referred to the bishops in their Churches or groups of Churches’. Will this decentralisation weaken papal authority? Rome's authority is ‘inalienable’, but ‘it is not unconditional’.

So what are we to make of this synod?

In his final address to the synod, the Pope defined the final document, and therefore the synod, as a threefold gift.

A gift for the Pope himself. For this he expresses his gratitude to the bishops and the People of God and insists on the importance of listening and of the harmony given by the Spirit to the Church. He encourages the Church to open its doors without erecting walls, and the men and women of the Church to welcome ‘all, all, all’, because all are called to mercy.

A gift for the People of God. The Document is a guide from the Spirit for the local Churches. Not everyone will read it, so it is up to the bishops and priests to make its contents accessible to their communities, to all the faithful, because collective witness is essential.

A gift for the whole world. The synodal experience of harmony is not something to be kept to oneself: everyone must commit themselves to peace, through concrete acts of dialogue and reconciliation. The synodal journey, translated into action and animated by the Holy Spirit, is a source of harmony, and the whole Church must be open, inclusive and in tune with contemporary challenges. The Church is therefore called to give priority to listening to and being close to those who suffer, the poor, the oppressed and the marginalised, the victims of violence and migrants. If the Holy Spirit guides the Church, in the synodal approach, ecclesial authority must include the laity, religious and priests. This calls for a transformation towards a ‘more relational authority’, where differences become sources of richness and unity: it is ‘possible to walk together in diversity’, but from now on ‘shared words must be accompanied by deeds’. The final document without the witness loses much of its value.

At the closing Mass of the Synod in St Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis invited the faithful to draw inspiration from the blind man Bartimaeus: healed by Jesus, he began to follow him. Bartimaeus ‘represents that inner blindness that blocks us, makes us remain seated, renders us immobile on the edges of life, without hope’. A ‘seated Church that, almost without realising it, withdraws from life and confines itself to the margins of reality, is a Church that risks remaining blind and settling into its own malaise’, he said.

The Synod calls on the Church to be dynamic, to respond to contemporary challenges: ‘We don't need a Church that sits back and gives up, but a Church that welcomes the cry of the world and gets its hands dirty to serve it’, cried the Pope. The Church, like Bartimaeus, instead of remaining frozen in suffering, rises to serve with courage and hope. In this way, synodality calls for a missionary conversion: animated by the strength of the Gospel, the faithful bear the joy of the Gospel, and are an active missionary Church.

Francis also chose to quote extracts from The Dance of Life (La danse de la vie) by Madeleine Delbrêl, whom he described as a mystic of the peripheries: ‘Let us live our lives, not as a game of chess where everything is calculated, not as a match where everything is difficult, not as a theorem that breaks our heads, but as an endless feast where your encounter is renewed, like a dance, in the arms of your grace, in the universal music of love’. His words are an inspiration to the whole Church: ‘there are places where the Spirit blows, but there is a Spirit who blows in all places’.

For Andréa Tornielli, the lay editorial director of the Vatican media, quoted by Le Figaro, the synod ‘calls for a change of mentality. It asks us not to consider synodality as a bureaucratic task to be implemented in a paternalistic way with a few small superficial reforms’. It is a question of creating ‘a new image of the Church in which ecclesial structures no longer represent the place to which the laity must converge, but a support for the service that the people of God carries out in the world’. The aim of the Synod was and remains to re-launch the Church towards mission: ‘The horizon of this text, which Pope Francis immediately wanted to give to the whole Church, is mission’.

Words that nourish hope, or hope that is nourished by words?