Originally published at Southern Cross
By Justin McLellan
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has approved the next phase of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, launching a three-year implementation process that will culminate in an ecclesial assembly at the Vatican in October 2028.
In a letter published March 15, Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the synod, announced that the synod’s new phase will focus on applying its conclusions at all levels of the church, with dioceses, bishops’ conferences and religious communities working to integrate synodality into daily church life before the meeting at the Vatican in 2028.
“For now, therefore, a new synod will not be convened; instead, the focus will be on consolidating the path taken so far,” he wrote in the letter addressed to all bishops, eparchs and the presidents of national and regional bishops’ conferences.
(The implementation process began last March at the Diocese of San Diego, under Cardinal Robert W. McElroy. Utilizing synodal principles, a total of 17 pilot parishes are working to implement one goal in parish life and another related to leadership. More parishes are on tap to join them in the coming months.)
Cardinal Grech told bishops that Pope Francis approved the three-year plan March 11 at Rome’s Gemelli
