Originally published at National Catholic Register
On Saturday, Pope Francis made the unprecedented decision to accept the final document from the Synod of Synodality as authoritative Church teaching.
The 52-page text includes a theological reflection on the nature of synodality, which it says is the fulfillment of the reforms of Vatican II, as well as proposals for how to apply synodality to relationships, structures, and processes within the Catholic Church.
The end goal is to make the Church more effective at evangelization by making it more participatory and inclusive.
Here are answers to the big questions about the Synod on Synodality’s final document:
1. How did Pope Francis make this document magisterial?
Pope Francis immediately approved the final document after synod members voted on it. According to reforms he made in 2018, the Synod on Synodality’s final text is therefore part of his ordinary magisterium.
This decision is a break from previous practice, which usually sees the Pope use a synod’s final document as a basis for drafting his own apostolic exhortation on the topic (think Amoris Laetitia, after the 2015 Synod on the Family). The fact that a synod body whose membership was 27% non-bishops just produced a magisterial text will certainly leave theologians and
