Chronology of the Synod on Synodality

But beyond this practical aspect, a chronology gives an approach to the event, a framework in which to place it and which provides an initial explanation.

2015

 —Ceremony Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops: Address of His Holiness Pope Francis, in which Pope Francis sets out his new doctrine on synodality, on October 17

2018

—The International Theological Commission publishes Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church, on March 2, which outlines and structures Francis' thinking expressed in the 2015 text.

—On September 15, Francis promulgates the Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis communio, reforming the framework of the Synod of Bishops.

—The Final Document of the Synod on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment, dated October 27, already deals with synodality. In Chapter I of Part Three, The Missionary Synodality of the Church, a section deals with “The Synodal form of the Church,” referring to the 2015 Address. All the themes are already present: participation, co-responsibility, community discernment. It looks like a trial balloon.

2020

—On March 7, Pope Francis announces synodality as the theme of the next Synod of Bishops.

2021

—In September, the General Secretariat of the Synod publishes a Preparatory Document as well as a Vademecum for dioceses around the world for the first phase of the synodal process.

—The Synod on Synodality opens in Rome on October 10, 2021, launching the consultation phase in all the dioceses of the world. A national synthesis is to be produced by the bishops' conference concerned and sent to the General Secretariat of the Synod by mid-August 2022.

2022

—In various ways, local synod meetings are being organized all over the world. Participation, however, is very low. The parish syntheses are collected at national level.

—On October 16, Francis announces that the Synod will comprise two General Assemblies and that the process will extend until 2024.

—After receiving the national syntheses, the General Secretariat of the Synod draws up the Instrumentum laboris for the continental phase, published on October 27, 2023, entitled “Enlarge the space of your tent”: it is “one of the most incoherent documents ever sent by Rome,” according to Cardinal George Pell.

2023

—The 7 continental assemblies are held between January and March 2023: Middle East, Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, Africa, and Oceania.

—The syntheses are sent to the General Secretariat of the Synod by March 31, in preparation for drafting the Instrumentum laboris for the October Assembly.

—On April 26, those in charge of the Synod of Bishops announce that 70 voting members of the Synod would not be bishops: priests, consecrated women, deacons, and lay people.

—On June 20, the General Secretariat of the Synod publishes the Instrumentum laboris to be used in October.

—Warnings and admonitions multiply in the ranks of conservatives against what is being prepared. Some bishops even warn their faithful.

—On August 21, five cardinals (Walter Brandmüller, Raymond Burke, Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, and Robert Sarah) submit five dubia to Pope Francis. The third dubium deals with synodality.

—The first session of the XVI General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops takes place from October 4 to 29 in Rome. A Synthesis Report is published at its end.

2024

—A new local consultation is launched in January in the dioceses, based on the Synthesis Report. The syntheses produced by the bishops' conferences must be sent to the General Secretariat of the Synod by May 15.

—In February, a papal Chirograph establishes ten study groups, each responsible for a theme that had emerged during the first session. They are to submit their work by June 2025 at the latest. They are therefore para-synodal.

—The Instrumentum laboris for the second session of the XVI General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops is prepared in June. It is published on July 9.

—On October 1, the eve of the opening of the second session, a prayer vigil sees seven cardinals ask forgiveness for seven special sins, during a penitential ceremony.

—The second session of the Synod on Synodality is held in Rome from October 2 to 26. A Final Document is presented to the Pope at its conclusion.

—At the end of the last General Congregation, Francis announced that he would not be writing a post-synodal exhortation but would endorse the Final Document in accordance with his Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis communio, which governs the Synod of Bishops.

—On November 25, for the publication of the Final Document, a Note from Francis indicates that this text is part of his ordinary magisterium, as indicated by the Apostolic Constitution cited above. And he affirms that “The conclusion of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops does not put an end to the synodal process.”