C&SI - Reviewing the Synod of Synodality 2023 with Julianne Moran - 12 November 2023(S03E51)

On this weeks podcast we are joined by Julianne Moran, General Secretary for the Synodal Pathway of the Catholic Church in Ireland to discuss the Synod on Synodality which was held in Rome during the month of October 2023 - the first phase of the meetings on the issue, the second phase is to be held in October 2024. We have our regular run through the liturgical odds and ends for the coming week, and also our weekly reflection on the Sunday gospel (Matthew 25:1-13).

Julianne takes us through the various events including the Ecumenical Vigil on 30 September, the pre-synod retreat for the participants and then onto the sessions of the Synod themselves. We look through who was attending and despite the media expectation of "secrecy",  the actual level of transparency and sharing of resources from the Vatican is actually overwhelming. We discuss how the synod work - the "conversations in the Spirit" methodology and ultimately the various topics and issues which came up in the final document. The final document is divided into three sections:

• The Face of the Synodal Church
• All Disciples, All Missionaries
• Weaving bonds, Building Communities 

Each subsection is divided into the areas of convergence, areas or matters for future considerations, and agreed proposals.  While the final document is only 40 pages, it is quite a dense mouthful so to be read slowly.

We are waiting to see what the next steps will be ahead of the 2024 session next year.

Resources available:

• Synod.ie website
• Final Universal Synod’s Synthesis Report
• Vatican News summary article by Salvatore Cernuzio - Synod Report: A Church that involves everyone and is close to world’s wounds
• Vatican News general reportage under hash tag #Synod2023 including the inputs at the retreat before hand and the daily briefings.
• Ecumenical Prayer Vigil at beginning of Synod
• iCatholic have a lot of video coverage during and since the Synod including interviews with the Irish Bishop delegates
• The Pillar - The synodal expectations game