By Christopher Wells
Following last year’s Second Session of the General Assembly of the Synod, the Synod’s General Secretariat has prepared a new document offering guidance for the next stage of the synodal journey.
Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod aims to foster dialogue between local Churches and the General Secretariat, and to promote the exchange of synodal experiences among the Churches.
On the release of Pathways, Sr Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, Undersecretary of the General Secretariat, spoke to Vatican News.
In the following interview, she outlines the Implementation Phase of the Synod on Synodality, discusses the meaning of synodality and the reception of the Synod, and explains the goals of the new document.
Q: Sister Natalie, the Synod has released a new document, Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod, a text to support the exchange of gifts among the Churches. Can you say a few words about what is the implementation phase of the Synod?
Sr Becquart: This phase started just after the celebration of the Synod that finished with the Assembly in Rome in October 2024, and with our Constitution Episcopalis communio, it emphasised that the reception of the Synod implementations—that means putting into practice the fruit of the Synod—is a very important phase.
And for the first time, Pope Francis endorsed directly the final document of the Synod. So now it’s part of the ordinary Magisterium, and it is asked now to put it into practice, to implement those fruits with creativity, in the diversity of the context of the local Churches.
So, we are now in this phase because it’s not enough to have a document and just to leave it on the shelf, but it has to be taken up by the local Churches discerning how to already put into practice the recommendations of the Final Document.
Q: The first couple of phases of the Synod, the listening phase and then the celebratory phase, were discreet, they had to set periods of time. Is there a set period for the implementation phase or is it open-ended going forward?
Well, it’s open, but what has been organized with the General Secretariat of the Synod and the approval of Pope Francis, and then Pope Leo, is to have a three-year framework, plan, to help to support the implementation phase.
So, we are now in this phase, designed with some steps, until October 2028, when there will be an Ecclesial Assembly in Rome to share the fruits of the implementation phase and to have a kind of evaluation. And this will start also at the local level, having assemblies in dioceses, and at the level of continent, national and continent. So, we are now in this time.
But we can say also that we know that to already implement synodality everywhere, at all levels of the Church, will take time. But the most important—it’s the process, we can say step-by-step, and the most important is to move forward. And those pathways are to help those who need more guidance or practical suggestions to take up this process. But many have already started it since the Final Document of the Synod was released.
Q: And in fact, we’ve seen a big response throughout the Church to the concept of synodality as a whole and to the initiatives of Pope Francis of the Synod. A lot of people, perhaps, would ask, “What is Synodality?” Some people ask that somewhat tendentiously, but a lot of people ask in good faith. Could you give, maybe, a baseline definition? If someone asks you, “What is synodality, what are we being called to?” Can you give us kind of a baseline definition for that?
Yes. Well, we have a now already a definition in our final document of the Synod. So, I always refer to this definition and I will read it But we can also understand synodality in two different ways that can help.
The first, and I often quote an Australian theologian who was at our Synod, Ormond Rush, who states “Synodality is the Second Vatican Council in a nutshell.” And all our documents, and still in these pathways, in the Final Document, highlight that what we are doing is really referred to the vision of the Second Vatican Council.
We can say synodality is the way to understand the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council in this stage of the reception of the Council.
So, it’s nothing else but just continuing the reception of the Second Vatican Council. Because the council is not yet implemented everywhere, in a way. So that’s the way to understand it.
The other way—which is also an easy way—referring to our logo, is highlighting the three key words: communion, participation, mission. And we can say synodality is a way to help the Church to become more missionary and more participatory. So synodality is the way God is calling the Church to be today to better exercise our mission.
So it’s a way to be Church. That was a way, from the early Church, that we retrieve from the Second Vatican Council as a fruit highlighting that, first of all, we are all baptized; and as baptized together as people of God, we are called to carry on the mission together. So, it’s calling every baptized person to be a protagonist of the mission, to help us understand that we are called to work together, exercising co-responsibility for the mission—of course, a differentiated co-responsibility because we don’t all have the same vocations. There is a diversity of vocation, of charisms, of ministries. But we are people of God, journeying with the other people.
So, we have to understand synodality as both ways: A way to be Church, as brothers and sisters in Christ; and a way to be Church, working with all the others. So, it goes hand-in-hand with ecumenism, that was one of the strongest fruits of the Synod; but also with interreligious dialogue, dialogue with society, with all the people; and highlighting the importance of listening to everybody, especially the poor or the marginalized, and to be a welcoming Church, willing to work with everybody to preach the Gospel.
Q: And turning now to the actual document that you’re releasing today, Pathways For The Implementation Phase Of The Synod : Can you say a few words about the purpose of this document and what you hope to achieve with it?
When this document is really to answer some simple questions; to help as I say, to support first, the implementation of the Synod at the local level; but at the same time, what we call the “exchange of gifts” between the local churches. This notion of the exchange of gifts is really a core notion of the Final Document, a core notion of a synodal Church. We can apply it to the exchange of gifts among members of the People of God, members of the Church. We all have something to give and something to receive. But we can also understand it as the importance of the exchange of gifts among local churches.
With my mission here, I have been blessed, like Cardinal Grech and Monsignor Ruiz and others, to travel a lot to support the synodal journey of the local Churches. And we can see the beauty of our Church. We are one Church, but with and through the diversities of situation, culture, context. And so, the way we live the mission and we celebrate and we exercise, we preach, the Gospel in the diversity of contexts is shaped also by the culture.
And each local church has its own journey, but cannot be isolated. So this document is also really to highlight that you can’t just do your synodal conversion alone, but it’s very important to work together as different local Churches.
And the Synod calls for more emphasis on the local church, but at the same time, highlights the importance of a stronger dialogue among the local Churches. It can be at the level of an ecclesiastical province; among a few dioceses; within bishops’ conferences (usually it’s for country); and at the continental level.
And so this document is helping also to give this notion that it’s important to share the fruits of the initiatives of the Synodal journey at a local level with others. And that’s why the plan for the following stages that has been approved by Pope Francis, and then also approved by Pope Leo, highlights different stages, to have assemblies in dioceses and eparchies for the Eastern Churches, but also then a national and continental level. And then, there will be this Ecclesial Assembly in Rome to ensure that we also work together as local Churches.
Q: And we’ve said a couple of times: the implementation phase is very concrete. That was a key word for Pope Francis, I think. Can you offer a few concrete suggestions as to how both local Churches, but also the individual baptized faithful—as we’re all called to be part of this process—how can they begin to contribute to the implementation of the Synod? And what would be a first step for people reading this document saying, “How can I be part of the process of the journey of synodality?”
Well, the first thing is that this document is an important document, but it refers to, and the best way to start the implementation phase, is really to read the Final Document of the Synod. That is the reference for this implementation phase.
And so, in a way, these pathways are a kind of tool to help to dive into the Final Document of the Synod and to take it up in a discerning way, to see how to implement it at the local level, also with this creativity that is coming from the Holy Spirit, because you can’t have just one way for everybody all over the world.
And it’s very important we highlight who has to participate in the implementation phase. Of course, the first one responsible for that is the diocesan or eparchial bishop. But we also highlight that everybody has a role to play, it’s not a bishop alone who can. So we ask each diocese and each bishops’ conference to have a synodal team, and many already have synodal teams that will help with working with the bishop to see how to move forward.
So they have an important role, but, also, as I say, all of the baptized are called to be protagonists of this reception of the Synod and this implementation, and can take initiatives, also where they are in their communities. And of course, always in dialogue with their pastors.
And so, we highlight also the role of the groupings of Churches. As I have said, that can be the ecclesiastical province, a bishops’ conference, also continental—and some they have already: for instance in Asia, FABC; or in Latin America CELAM, they already have the continental synod team working to support the journey of the bishops’ conferences.
So, as I always highlight and we highlight, it’s nobody alone; and we have to, yes, do it together. Each one taking his or her responsibility.
So, it’s also about, not, of course, just what can be done in parishes and dioceses, but also all kinds of church organizations. For instance, it’s very important if we want a synodal Church to implement synodality in Catholic schools, in Catholic universities, in youth ministry, in charities like Caritas. And they are already very involved in the Synod and the implementation, religious communities that also have really taken up this call for synodality. So, all this diversity of the Church.
Q: One of the words that you’ve used repeatedly is the idea of “reception”. Maybe people have a common idea of what it means to “receive” something, but there’s a little theological depth to that idea of receiving Vatican II, receiving the Synod. Can you talk about what reception means?
Yes, we can say that the reception is a fact. When there is a council or a synod, it’s really about discerning the call of God, seeking the truth. And from the beginning of the Church, synods and councils have been convoked to deal with some topics or questions, especially when sometimes there could be a conflict, and to really seek the truth. And we recognize that the way the Holy Spirit speaks and calls us is by bringing harmony.
And at the end of each council and each synod, in a way, the document, usually there is a vote, but already when a consensus is reached; and I have to read you this definition of synodality we have in the final document . The idea of consensus is very important. So those who participate—and we have seen that work in the Synod Assembly—they have really a deep spiritual, human, ecclesial experience, and then they become missionaries of synodality.
But if what has been discerned as the way forward is not received—welcomed, accepted—in the grassroots… It’s not enough that just a few people receive it or it becomes a document. So, the idea of reception is really the idea of… embracing, we can say, embracing the fruits and the goal, and the pathways that have been discerned through council and synod. And usually we see that, for instance, in the history of the Church, that they tell us that it takes almost 100 or 150 years to receive a council.
I give, for instance, a very concrete example to help to understand. When the Council of Trent was convoked, one of the important topics was the formation for priesthood; and what came out of this Council of Trent was the idea to organize a formation for priests in seminaries like we know them now. But in some countries, it had taken more than 100 years to really take up and implement and put into practice the recommendation of the council.
So there’s this theological notion of the reception, for us, we understand it also today, having in mind that the vision of the revelation from the Second Vatican Council is not just that God is like a teacher, teaching to passive people. It’s the idea that God enters in conversation, in dialogue with us as a friend. And so, the reception is linked with the notion of an active participation, we can say, of, of the faithful of humanity to receive the gift of God.
And we can apply that also in the vision of, yes, the reception for a council or for a synod, that people as baptized are called to be subject, they are the subject of the reception. And that’s why to really put into practice and implement the fruits of the Synod, you need an active reception and active participation of the People of God in the local Churches.
Q: Pope Francis certainly provided the impetus for, and the great initiative of Pope Francis was, the Synod on Synodality. Going forward, we now have, perhaps providentially, a new pope, Pope Leo. I know he spoke with the Secretariat of the Synod very recently. How do you see synodality in the Church moving forward under Pope Leo?
What we see really, from the beginning, when Pope Leo was elected, he just highlighted that we want to be a synodal Church, in different speeches and different ways. He has really highlighted the importance of synodality and the commitment to continue this synodal journey.
And, for me, when Pope Francis died, I was very touched and moved that immediately all the people and the diversity of the People of God came to pay respect to Pope Francis. So, in a way, through the face of Pope Francis when he died, you could see immediately he was linked with the people, he was bonded with the people. And you could see, in the Basilica, such a diversity of people coming to pay respect to him. Very poor people, families with kids; even, at the time I was there, a Muslim imam saying the prayer, then an Orthodox bishop, people from all kind of life, people with disabilities trying to get up from their wheelchair to see Pope Francis, people from all continents.
And for Pope Francis’ funeral, you could see, without any words, exactly the vision of the Church. It was expressed through the diversity of people who were there; and not only Catholic people from the Church, but so many ecumenical delegates, more than 100 representatives of other religions, presidents, politicians, the diversity of the society.
And that was exactly the same when Pope Leo appeared at the balcony. The crowd was there and he immediately connected with this crowd. So, through the pope—Pope Francis and Pope Leo—you see immediately this intimate bond with the people. And that was the same at the inauguration Mass. So in a way, we observed synodality in action.
And what is very interesting with Pope Leo: he started the synod when he was already a bishop in Peru, when he was still bishop in Peru. So, he did the listening phase, the consultation phase in his diocese. He was very involved. Then he arrived here in Rome at the time of the continental meetings of the Synod; he participated. I remember the first time he came here it was when we were drafting the instrumentum laboris for the Assembly, and we asked all the prefects to come and have a dialogue with us. And then he was at the assembly as prefect in October ’23 then in October ’24. Then he took part in two study groups. So he has been involved in the in the Synod from the beginning.
And you see he has a very similar style of leadership, really listening with a deep spirituality, because Synodality begins in us. It’s a spiritual attitude first, but then it also has to be translated in structures, in concrete actions. And that’s why our Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod not only highlights the importance of the our personal conversion, the spirituality of synodality—that is the first part of the Final Document—but also asks us to look at very concrete steps that we can take up in decision-making bodies; implementing, for instance, councils like parish councils or pastoral diocesan council, and we see that, from now on—and I think it will continue—Pope Leo is really not only speaking about synodality and the importance of it, but already he has embraced it before it was shaped like this. And, he already exercises his ministry of Pope in a synodal style. And when he came to the Secretariat of the Synod, we had already this good dialogue with him.
Q: Is there anything I’ve missed or anything else you’d like to add?
I would like to add something, if it’s possible—also because I think it’s important to give also an idea of how the Holy Spirit that has really brought from the beginning of the Synod. Because if we understand synodality well, it’s really the call of God for the Church today to be a more missionary Church, because all this process is aimed at mission. That was the main question of the Synod, was how to be a synodal Church in mission.
And what we highlight in the Pathways, is really that what we are doing is really focused on mission. And if we embrace a better synodal style, we will bear more fruits in the mission. And so, the Church will be able to better proclaim the Gospel, to transmit the faith and to serve, to love and serve the people. Because that’s the mission of the Church.
And I would like to highlight what is already on the way, because, as I have said, many they didn’t wait for this document. They have already started. And we hope that with the document, many more will continue this synodal journey. And, what we see—and I will give a short overview of the implementation of synodality in local Churches—is that already many bishops’ conferences, continental bodies, but also organizations like the International Union of Superior General for religious life and other international movements, they have already set up their synodal team, and we hope that many more will continue.
So, with creativity, those national commission teams and at the level of dioceses are working. We also see that in some dioceses they implement new functions: like for instance, a vicar general for synodality or a lay woman as director of synodal implementation. and then they are working with the team. And we can say in many places they embrace synodality in institutional structures.
Then we see that many dioceses, they now organize a synod, a diocesan synod to see to how to implement synodality at their local level. For instance, in Australia, they had a Plenary Council and then the Synod on Synodality. So now, almost all the dioceses they are doing—they have done or they are doing—a diocesan synod to implement the fruits of the Plenary Council and the Synod on Synodality in their dioceses.
In other dioceses all over the world they sometimes do a diocesan synod, but also synodal assemblies, synodal processes. I can give, for instance, the example: in the Archdiocese of Abidjan in Ivory Coast, they have decided to have the theme of the pastoral year will be a to lead a synodal church. And they have done a kind of assessment at the end of the pastoral year. And they highlight many fruits. So it’s very interesting.
So, it’s done through that. Local bishops who are writing pastoral letters on Synodality, like now, just published in the diocese of Milan, this pastoral letter, and in many other places.
Many organized also implementation days for different categories, sometimes for priests or for pastoral agents or different categories or all together.
Some have already written, and it’s very interesting, a vademecum for the implementation of the Final Document of the Synod in their context. So, they have taken that up.
Then another field where we have a lot of lot of initiative is about formation and education in synodality. So, now we have some kind of permanent schools of synodality: like for instance, in French-speaking Africa, a sister who was at the synod with others, organized a school of synodality after the first Assembly and now really taking up the Final Document; some organizations like the World Union of Catholic Women Organizations, they have now a school of synodality. Some universities are also starting courses or school of synodality. So, in the theological and academic worlds, there are a lot of initiatives of training courses, new departments, for instance, a department of synodality, or we see also now more and more students in doctorate or doing their thesis or doctorate on topics on synodality. So, more publication research. So, a lot of programs and workshops.
And I want also to highlight—it’s very interesting—what is done also in educational and pedagogical projects, in Catholic schools, for instance, in Philippines have taken that very seriously. And now they have manuals or books integrating the principle of synodality.
And then we have also creative and cultural initiatives. In some parts of the world, they have organized concerts on synodality, asking choirs or people to write songs and hymns about the Synod, translating the final document in music and in concert.
And then also, a lot of initiatives, from a spiritual point of view, some spiritual exercises, on synodality, and different initiatives like this.
And then, the last part I want to highlight is also because there was a very strong, ecumenical dimension of the Synod and fraternal delegates took part in the Synod; and many other Churches now are also fostering a dialogue and sharing their experience of synodality. And also in in some countries, because that’s a reality, highlighting and reflecting on synodality through internal religious dialogue.
So I just want to leave you with this diversity of initiative and creativity that’s how the Holy Spirit is already working. And we share that on our Synod website, “Synod Resources”, so that it can inspire others, but not just to do “copy and paste”, but to discern in their own context how to continue this Synodal conversion and to implement the fruit of the Synod, taking up the final document of the Synod. – Vatican News
This transcription was edited for clarity.
