Understanding the Synod on Synodality, 2023 Session

Book excerpt: No synod in modern times has grappled with so much contention and doubt from personages high in the church’s hierarchy. The author situates this in context, guiding the reader through the theological and canonical footprints leading from Vatican II to the Synod on Synodality and outlining the communio ecclesiology at the base of this Synod. The book studies the Synod documents, especially the Instrumentum laboris and the Synod Synthesis Report, drawing out certain implications for a synodal church renewed by the Spirit and becoming a “community of mutual empowerment” in mission.