Pope Francis has declared that the final document of the Synod on Synodality “participates in the ordinary Magisterium of the Successor of Peter,” and “as such I ask that it be accepted.” He said he now gives this text to the whole church “as an authoritative orientation for her life and mission.”
In “a note of accompaniment” to the final document, the pope made clear that Catholic bishops throughout the world, guided by this final document, are to lead their churches and communities in building a synodal and missionary church in the 21st century.
He signed the note, written in Italian, on the feast of Christ the King.
In the note, Pope Francis recalled the history of the synodal process, which he launched in October 2021, and how “at the various moments of the journey…we have listened to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Churches in this time.”
He said the final document “reaps the fruits of a journey marked by listening to the People of God and the discernment of the Pastors. Allowing herself to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit, the whole Church has been called to read her own experience and to identify the steps to be taken in order to live communion, to achieve participation and to promote the mission that Jesus Christ has entrusted to her.”
The pope said the synodal journey did not end with the second and final plenary assembly in Rome in October 2024 but rather “continues in the local Churches and their groups, treasuring the Final Document.”
The final document was voted on and approved by the synod assembly on Oct. 26. Instead of writing the customary post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Pope Francis said he approved and signed the synod’s final document, “joining the ‘we’ of the Assembly which, through the Final Document, addresses the holy faithful People of God.”
The final document now “participates in the ordinary Magisterium of the Successor of Peter” in accordance with article 18, subsection 1 of “Episcopalis Communio,” the apostolic constitution of the synod that he promulgated in 2018, and Canon 892 of the Code of Canon Law.
He said this “represents a form of exercising the authentic teaching of the Bishop of Rome that has some new features but which in fact corresponds to what I had the opportunity to specify on 17 October 2015, when I affirmed that synodality is the adequate interpretative framework for understanding the hierarchical ministry.”
At the closing session of the synod on Oct. 26, the pope said the final document “is not strictly normative” and that “its application will need various mediations.” But, he said in the note, “this does not mean that it does not commit the Churches from now on to making choices consistent with what is indicated in it.” On the contrary, he said, “[t]he local Churches and groupings of Churches are now called upon to implement, in the various contexts, the authoritative indications contained in the Document, through the discernment and decision-making processes provided for by law and by the Document itself.”
At the same, he acknowledged that “it takes time to arrive at choices that involve the whole Church,” and “this is particularly true for the themes entrusted to the ten study groups.” He said other study groups may be added to those 10 “in view of the necessary decisions” that may need to be taken. (The final document, for example, proposed adding an additional study group on the liturgy.)
Addressing the bishops, Pope Francis said they are to prepare reports ahead of their five-yearly ad limina visits to the Vatican that indicate “what choices have been made in the local Church entrusted to him in relation to what is indicated in the Final Document, what difficulties have been encountered, what have been the fruits.” In other words, each bishop will have to give a report on how they are implementing this synod. The final document provides a number of checklists for the work of implementation.
The pope also repeated “with conviction” what he had written in “Amoris Laetitia”:
Not all doctrinal, moral or pastoral discussions must be resolved with interventions of the magisterium. Naturally, a unity of doctrine and practice is necessary in the Church, but this does not prevent the existence of different ways of interpreting some aspects of doctrine or some of the consequences that derive from it. This will happen until the Spirit brings us to the complete truth (cf. Jn 16:13), that is, when he introduces us perfectly into the mystery of Christ and we will be able to see everything with his gaze. Moreover, in each country or region, more inculturated solutions can be sought, attentive to local traditions and challenges (No. 3).
“In many cases,” Francis said in reference to the final document, “it is a matter of effectively implementing what is already provided for by current law in the Latin and Eastern [rite churches].” In other cases, he said, “it will be possible to proceed, through synodal discernment and within the framework of the possibilities indicated in the Final Document, to the creative activation of new forms of ministry and missionary action, experimenting and verifying experiences.”
He said he was entrusting “the task of accompanying ‘the implementation phase’ of the synodal journey, on the basis of the guidelines offered by the Final Document” to the General Secretariat of the Synod together with the dicasteries of the Roman Curia.
The pope reminded people that the synodal process also had an important ecumenical objective, or as he put it, “the synodal journey of the Catholic Church” was “also animated by the desire to continue on the path towards the full and visible unity of Christians.” For this reason, too, he said, “[it] needs shared words to be accompanied by deeds.”
Editor’s note: A working translation was done by the author in the absence of an official English translation.
