Last Stage of The Synod on Synodality

Holy Spirit mosaic

Source: Margaret Beaufort Instutute

Pope Francis launched the Synod on Synodality in October 2021. Now, in October 2024, we have reached its final stage.

On 1st October, the evening before the Synod opened, the Margaret Beaufort Institute (MBI) organized the webinar: 'The Synod on Synodality, 2024: How Did We Get Here? Where Are We Going?'

The first part provided a broad historical and theological framework to consider the significance and potential of this three-year synodal process. The second part consisted of an open discussion in which participants reflected on their actual experiences of the process. In the first part, Last Stage of The Synod on Synodality, Dr Peter Coughlan delivered a talk that is now accessible on the MBI YouTube Channel. The second part, moderated by Dr Liam Hayes of the Centre for Ecclesial Ethics, featured a lively exchange of views in which participants expressed their concerns and hopes for the coming years.

From what was said, it is evident that participants were very aware that what Pope Francis has been seeking during these three years is not so much to focus on specific aspects of the Church's life and mission but to initiate a process that engages all members of the Church together on a synodal path. His repeated insistence on a wide consultation in the synods held during his pontificate is evidence of this. It is equally clear from the imaginative and creative way in which the present Synod on Synodality has been organized, with its emphasis on honest speaking, careful listening, and above all, prayer, reflection, and discernment, that Pope Francis sees the Holy Spirit as the principal protagonist in the synodal process.

In 2013, his first year as pope, Francis stated in The Joy of the Gospel: "I dream of a missionary option, that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything … so that everything can be suitably channelled for the evangelization of today's world rather than for its self-preservation." In those words, we find the central focus of Pope Francis' pontificate. Now, eleven years later, he invites the entire Church to remain focused on that same missionary impulse. The challenge he has presented to the current Synod expresses this clearly: "How to be a synodal Church in mission?" This is a question the Church mus always keep in mind. It is a permanent and ongoing question, a criterion for everything that the Church, in response to the command of Christ and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, sets out to be and to do.

LINK

Dr Peter Coughlan's talk: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeGMtTMUff0