Have you ever wondered what a synod REALLY is… and how it works?
The word synod comes from Greek and means “walking together.”
A synod in the Catholic Church is a gathering of the baptized to pray, listen, discern and advise on matters affecting the life and mission of the Church.
Synods are consultative — they do not change Church doctrine or replace the authority of Church leaders. Rather, they help the Pope, the bishop or the pastor become a more effective leader of the people entrusted to his care — a leader who is open to the Holy Spirit at work in the community.
Synodality doesn’t weaken the leader’s authority, rather it supports and enriches it.
Synods have been part of the Church from the very beginning of our history, starting with the Council of Jerusalem described in Acts 15. After several synods in the early Church, St. John Chrysostom in the fourth century even said that “the words synod and Church are synonymous.”
In our own time, Pope Francis and Pope Leo have taught us that synodality—this way of listening, discerning, and “walking together” — is an essential dimension of the Church’s life and mission.
So, what does a synod look like in practice?
In the Diocese of Phoenix, Bishop Dolan uses synodal listening sessions to help him discern important pastoral questions. These sessions follow a method called Conversation in the Spirit.
After prayer and an invocation of the Holy Spirit, participants gather in small groups. A question is presented, and each person shares, while everyone else listens respectfully, without interruption or debate. Following a period of silence, participants then reflect one-by-one on what resonated with them in what they heard. After another time of prayer, each person shares the insights they believe the Holy Spirit is bringing to the group.
A scribe records the group’s insights — but not who said what — and, if several groups are participating, their conclusions are shared with the larger synodal assembly for discernment… before being presented to the bishop for his decision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Synodality is a style, a culture, a way of thinking and being, that reflects the truth that the Church is led by the Holy Spirit who enables everyone to offer their own c1ontribution to the Church’s life. The synod process seeks to “strengthen cooperation” in all areas of the Church’s mission, to enhance communion, participation and mission.
To quote Pope Leo: “The legacy he [Pope Francis] has left us, in my view, is above all this: that synodality is a style, an attitude that helps us to be Church by promoting authentic experiences of participation and communion.” (Leo XIV, meeting with the General Secretariat of the Synod, 26 June 2025)
Synodality is reflected in a consultative style of governance, in which people participate in decision making, share responsibility for the Church’s mission, cooperate and collaborate more in the day-to-day life of the Church. Some call this “co-responsibility.” The Church is neither a monarchy nor a democracy, but rather a pilgrim People of God on a journey, walking together to the Kingdom of God. A synodal gathering is not a parliament, or a convention, or an opinion survey — it is a prayerful consultation process involving the People of God (lay men and women, vowed religious and clergy) who listen, share and discern with one another in order to provide advice to the competent Church authority (pope, bishop or pastor) to aid in his decision-making. “The Synod is an ecclesial event, and its protagonist is the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit is not present, there will be no Synod” (Pope Francis, 09 October 2021).
Pope Leo, in his Extraordinary Consistory with the College of Cardinals (26 June 2026) said this:
“Synodality is not, first and foremost, a set of procedures… it is an attitude, an openness, a willingness to understand. At times it has been interpreted as a diminishment of authority. In reality, it helps us to understand more deeply the meaning of authority itself, which exists to safeguard communion, to foster the participation of all, and to guide the Church’s common journey.“
Synodality, then, enhances co-responsibility for the mission of the Church, with all members of the People of God collaborating in charting the Church’s direction. Synodality does not seek to change Church doctrine. Synodality is a way of de-centralizing and sharing decision-making while maintaining the Church’s doctrinal integrity.
Synodality is the Church’s way of walking together in communion and mission. It is an attitude of listening and discernment that deepens — not diminishes — the authority of pastors by helping them exercise that authority in service of the People of God.
Everyone; all the baptized!
A synodal gathering is not a meeting of experts or leaders alone. It is a gathering of the People of God — bishops, clergy, religious, and lay faithful — who listen together to the Holy Spirit. Every baptized person has a voice to offer through prayerful discernment, while the bishop or pastor remains responsible for discerning and guiding the Church’s path in communion with the whole Church.
The emphasis is not on a select committee but on the Church learning to live as a community in which all the baptized participate.
Pope Francis stressed on several occasion the need for the Synod to involve everyone, and to reach out as much as possible. “Everyone has a part to play; no one is a mere extra … The Synod is for everyone, and it is meant to include everyone … Let everyone come in … the Holy Spirit needs us. Listen to him by listening to each other. Leave no one behind or excluded.” (Pope Francis, 18 September 2021).
He stressed “real involvement on the part of each and all” and “a way of acting marked by true participation…. Enabling everyone to participate is an essential ecclesial duty! All the baptized, for baptism is our identity card.” (Pope Francis, 09 October 2021).
Pope Leo frames the question of synodal participation this way: “Synodality is… an openness, a willingness to understand… each and every member of the Church has a voice and a role to play through prayer, reflection… through dialogue and respect for one another.” At the same time, the Holy Father emphasizes “At times [synodality] has been interpreted as a diminishment of authority. In reality, it helps us to understand more deeply the meaning of authority itself, which exists to safeguard communion, to foster the participation of all, and to guide the Church’s common journey” (Leo XIV at the Extraordinary Consistory with the College of Cardinals, 26 June 2026).
The Diocese of Phoenix sometimes invites specific groups within the larger Church to participate in synodal conversation. For example, the 2025 Diocesan Synod of Young Adults involved Synodal Listening Sessions to which all the young adults (ages 18-39) were explicitly invited to participate, especially within their local communities; with no one excluded.
In 2026, as we continue in our seven-year Diocesan Pastoral Plan, TILMA, the focus is broader: everyone — all the baptized — regardless of age, is invited to participate in Synodal Listening Sessions on the Sacraments.
A synodal Church is a Church that walks together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, where all the baptized participate according to their vocation, pastors exercise authority in service of communion, and the whole People of God discern together how best to proclaim the Gospel.
Pope Francis taught us that “Being a synodal Church means being a Church that is the sacrament of Christ’s promise that the Spirit will always be with us” (Pope Francis, 18 September 2021). He also described a synodal Church as being a “listening Church” and a Church of “closeness, compassion and tender love” which better reflects the “style of God” (Pope Francis, 9 October 2021).
Pope Leo XIV has offered a simple but theologically rich answer to this question. For him, to be a synodal Church is not primarily about adopting a new structure or set of procedures; it is to embody a way of being Church that is rooted in communion, participation, discernment, and mission.
Being a synodal Church can be summarized by the following five themes:
- A synodal Church is a Church that walks together in communion
- A synodal Church listens before it decides
- A synodal Church includes the participation of all the baptized
- A synodal Church remains hierarchical
- A synodal Church exists for mission.
Our Holy Father has noted that our synodal efforts “converge on a single question: How can we help our Churches today to proclaim the Gospel with greater fidelity, freedom, and credibility?” (Leo XVI at the Extraordinary Consistory with the College of Cardinals, 26 June 2026).
The purpose of any synod or synodal listening session is not to collect everyone’s individual opinions, but rather to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us through our prayers and reflections. Listening to each other is very important. Pope Francis has said that during the Synod of Bishops gathering: “We listen, we discuss in groups but above all we pay attention to what the Spirit has to say to us.” This discernment is not an activity done in isolation. Mutual listening and reflection are vital, as what is proposed grows from the unity and conviction that comes from the lived practice of faith within the community.
The process of spiritual discernment calls for everyone’s participation. The Church asks everyone to be open to the Holy Spirit, to discern where the local Church is being led in its own context. The Church asks bishops to listen carefully to the views of the faithful and asks the faithful to respect the authentic role of the bishop as one who governs the local Church and promotes communion. Discernment is always oriented towards the mission of the universal Church which continually moves towards Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, who calls his people into a unity of purpose.
Listening Sessions in the Diocese of Phoenix follow a particular format, known as “Conversation in the Spirit,” a type of conversation that has its roots in Ignatian spirituality
Typically, participants are seated at round tables in groups of 6 to 8 individuals. The spiritual conversation involves the following steps:
Participants begin with a few moments of silence, focusing themselves on being open to the Holy Spirit as the ponder the question being presented for discernment. Then, three rounds of conversation take place. When a person is speaking, everyone else listens attentively. This is not a time for debate or rebuttal, but rather a time for openness to what the speaker is saying.
First round of conversation: Each person has a chance to speak. There is no discussion in this round, and there is a time of silence to allow for reflection.
Second round of conversation: Following the same format, each person shares what struck them the most or what resonated for them in the first round as well as what may have them you during the time of silence. Once again this is followed by a pause for reflection.
Third round of conversation: Finally in the third round, each participant reflects on what moved them most deeply. What new insights arise? What are the common themes or fruits of the conversations?
A note taker (or scribe) records what is being said in the third round, but not who said what so that confidentiality is respected. If there is a large number of participants (multiple tables), typically there will be a plenary session where each note taker shares the insights recorded at his/her table. Those insights are noted by the main facilitator or note taker, then subsequently presented to the entire group for further discernment, prioritizing and then recommending the result to the competent ecclesial authority for his/her discernment and subsequent action.