Flying bishops, eminent birthdays and getting lost in translation: Funny stuff that Father James Martin heard inside the synod hall.

The fundamental insight of the synod was not only that attentive listening was helpful in decision making, but also that the Holy Spirit was at work in everyone.

For Catholics who want to see immediate changes in the church, the synod was an opportunity for conversion.

“The second and final session of the Synod on Synodality has just concluded,” Father James Martin writes. “And what I noticed most this year is how much the attitude toward L.G.B.T.Q. issues has changed—and for the good.”

Fr. James Martin shares his five insights from the synod's final document, just approved by Pope Francis and published by the Vatican.

We’re now halfway through the four weeks of the second session of the Synod on Synodality. And a fair question to ask is: What have we done?

Pope Francis has decided that this year, we will be discussing not any series of topics—clericalism women’s ordination to the diaconate, or ministry to L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics—but synodality itself.

I suspect that there are other Catholics who may pray it in their own way, too. And, to my mind, any way you pray that leads you closer to God makes sense. 

Father James Martin responds to the five most common reasons for opposing L.G.B.T.Q. issues that he’s heard from synod delegates and church leaders from around the world.

First, remind yourself that extreme forms of hopelessness are not coming from God.