Originally published at National Catholic Register
Ten days out from the conclusion of the October 2024 synodal assembly, and nearly five years since Pope Francis first announced the Synod on Synodality, is there now a consensus on what “synodality” means?
Over the years, increasingly one heard that synodality meant a “new way of being Church.” It could hardly be more important, then, to know what it meant.
At the conclusion of the October 2023 synodal assembly, it was somewhat awkward that the final report called for greater study on what exactly “synodality” meant. Three years of work on the issue had not achieved a good understanding of the term. So further study was called for, and the Holy Father set up a study group to work on the matter. That study group will report in June 2025, so this year’s monthlong assembly met without a definition at hand.
It became evident that the assembly intended to remedy that unsatisfactory situation. So a definition was provided — several in fact.
And it turned out that synodality does not mean a “new way of being Church” at all, but actually what the Church has always been. Indeed, the final report said “that synodality is a constitutive dimension of
