Synodality turns five as Pope Leo XIV's office reviews synod proposals

Five years after Pope Francis formally launched it in October 2021, the synodal process has produced two assemblies at the Vatican, prompted discussions around the world and brought more lay people into Church governance, the National Catholic Reporter reported. The process aims to change a Church structure long marked by the separation between pastors and the faithful, and to encourage greater collaboration and mutual listening.

The death of Francis in 2025 raised questions about whether the project would continue. Pope Leo XIV answered them in his first address as pope, when he said the Church needs to be synodal. Francis had said on several occasions that this path was the future of the Church, and he required his 2022 reform of the Roman Curia to have a "character of synodality."

The synodal process led Francis to incorporate the final document of the 2024 assembly into his magisterium. The text calls for greater lay participation in decision-making within the Church, but it does not propose specific changes to Church teaching or governance. The most concrete proposals on the Church's internal workings are now under review in Pope Leo XIV's office.

A process taking root in local communities

Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Vatican's synod office, acknowledged that the process is not always visible at the local level, but said a real movement is under way. "There is much to do, but people are more and more certain that this is the way to go," she said. Training programs in synodal practice have multiplied in Europe and Africa, and academic programs have appeared in Latin America, the Middle East and the United States.

Those efforts are part of a broader cultural and spiritual shift, in which synodality is understood not as an administrative step but as a habit of consultation and discernment meant to run through every level of Church life. Becquart said it means adopting a new way of making decisions, based on listening, consultation and participation.

Lay apathy and clerical resistance

Some Catholics see synodality as a threat to the authority of the clergy. Pope Leo XIV has dismissed those concerns. In the United States, Auxiliary Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt said the Church already has structures that channel lay participation, such as parish finance councils and diocesan pastoral councils, though the pope wants to deepen that synodal culture.

Betancourt also said some bishops have begun opening their meetings with reflections on Scripture, which has refocused the work on a mission more centered on Christ and the Holy Spirit. The format of the bishops' plenary assemblies has also changed to encourage more fraternal dialogue, with effects that can be seen in how those meetings run.

Apathy among lay Catholics could prove a bigger obstacle than active resistance from some clergy. Father Pedro Brassesco, an Argentine priest who led synodal efforts in Latin America, warned that a lack of conviction and understanding about synodality can lead people to ignore the process. He said he has seen growth in "synodal animation" teams in several Latin American dioceses, along with wider use of the listening and discernment methods promoted by the Vatican's synod office.

Asia moves at different speeds depending on each bishop

In Asia, synodality is taking hold at different speeds from one local church to another. Father Clarence Devadass, a Malaysian priest, said the pace depends largely on each bishop's willingness to drive the process. He said synodality is bringing a cultural change to the region, with the focus shifting from making decisions to discerning together, a change from what was happening only a decade ago.

Devadass said the path to a synodal Church is a continuing process that will not end with the 2028 assembly, and that it amounts to an "awakening of the Second Vatican Council." The Church must keep in mind that "every baptized person has received the Holy Spirit," he said, which means no one can control how the Spirit works in the community.