The Final Document of the Synod on Synodality and a simple, accessible 'take-outs' resource has been produced to help Catholics engage with the Final Document (FD).
On Saturday afternoon, 26 October 2024, the members of the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops approved the Final Document of the Synod on Synodality. Pope Francis approved its publication.
You can download it in English here:
A simple and accessible ‘take-outs’ resource has been produced by the Diocese of Westminster to help Catholics engage with the Final Document (FD).
The resource is particularly useful ahead of the ‘Implementation Phase’ that Pope Francis has recently commissioned the Church to move into as we journey to the celebration of an ecclesial assembly in the Vatican in October 2028.
The resource is titled: How to be a Synodal Church in Mission. Take-outs from the Final Document: ‘An Informal Reaping of the Fruits’.
Each section of the Final Document is numbered, and this ‘take-outs’ resource takes a particular topic or key point and explores it with reference to the FD’s more in-depth text.
An example…
“The formation required… needs to explore theological, biblical and spiritual foundations. All the baptised need this formation in witness, holiness and service, which emphasises co-responsibility.” (80)
You can then visit section 80 of the Final Document for more information.
Several aspects of synodality are explored in the resource including exactly what synodality is, what it calls for, how we can walk alongside people in all their joys and challenges, and how to have a ‘Conversation in the Spirit’.
It also looks at how a synodal Church places the poor at its centre, and how Mary, Mother of Christ, is at the heart of a synodal, missionary and merciful Church.
Among many other points, the take-outs look at participatory decision-making, and how the FD advocates for bishops and priests to listen to laypeople and vice-versa.
Please download this accessible 8-page PDF resource, using the link above, to better understand the Final Document of the Synod.
The working document that will guide the work of the second session.
