VATICAN: Vatican Outlines Framework for Synod’s Implementation Phase
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
On Monday, July 7, the Vatican, through the Secretariat of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, released a document titled ‘Pathways for the implementation phase of the synod,’ to guide the universal Church in putting into action the Final Document of the Synod on Synodality that was released after the 2024 synod assembly.
The document, therefore, is to help ensure that the Synod’s vision centered on communion, participation, and mission is not just discussed, but lived out in every part of the Church.
The document reads in parts, “The Pathways proposed here are situated within this perspective of service. We convey them to the entire People of God, who are the subjects of the synodal journey, and in particular to the Bishops and Eparchs, to the members of the synodal teams, and to all those who are involved in various ways in the implementation phase.”
According to members of the secretariat led by His Eminence Mario Cardinal Grech, the Secretary-General of the synod, “the content of the text is rooted in the feedback received from the Churches over the past few months and in the fruits of the experiences they have shared.”
The pathway document approved by Pope Leo XIV on Thursday, June 26, has a twofold purpose: “On the one hand, they aim to offer local Churches throughout the world a shared framework that will make it easier to walk together. On the other hand, they promote the dialogue that will lead the whole Church to the Ecclesial Assembly in October 2028.”
The document that will help examine new practices and structures that will make the life of the Church more synodal is divided into four chapters responding to some vital questions that have often been addressed to the Secretariat.
The first chapter explains what the implementation phase is all about and its goals; the next chapter expounds on who is expected to participate in the implementation phase and their tasks and responsibilities; the third chapter is on how to engage with the 2024 synod assembly’s final document during the implementation phase and finally the method and tools that can help shape the implementation phase.
According to the document, the synodal journey, which commenced in October 2021 with the opening of the synodal process, will actually culminate in 2028. The implementation phase will therefore take 3 years (2025-2028).
From June 2025 to December 2026, the implementation paths in the local Churches and their groupings; and on October 24-26, 2025, there will be a Jubilee of the synodal teams and participatory bodies.
In the first half of 2027, the evaluation assemblies in the Dioceses and Eparchies will take place, and in the second half of the same year, the evaluation assemblies in the national and international Episcopal Conferences, in the Eastern Hierarchical structures, and other ecclesial groupings will be carried out.
In the first quarter of 2028, there will be the continental evaluation assemblies, and in October of the same year, the synodal journey will culminate with the Ecclesial Assembly at the Vatican.
