While the second and final session of the Synod on Synodality will conclude at the end of October 2024, Catholics should not expect major pronouncements on the particular issues raised during the first session and included in its synthesis document. Those issues include the role of bishops, the possibility of women deacons, the formation of priests and more. But the synod continues to open significant new horizons for the life, organization and mission of the Catholic Church in the 21st century.
Next October’s synod will mainly focus on the key question of “How to be a synodal church in mission?” Most, if not all, of the particular issues raised in the 2023 synthesis document will be addressed at a later moment in an ongoing synodal process, once the method for doing so has been agreed at the October synod. It appears clear that many who were expecting answers or conclusions to some of the vexed or pressing issues raised through the synod process will have to wait until at least mid-2025, if not later.
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