Conversion is never easy, but participants from all continents must undergo conversion if the synod is to successfully carry out its task, Gerard O’Connell writes.

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.

When I imagine how the next 11 months can be used most fruitfully, I think about something, or rather someone, who is largely missing from the synod in Rome: the parish priest.

As we approach the expected release of the synod’s summary report on Saturday evening and the closing liturgy on Sunday, here are three questions that I will be paying attention to.

“Recognizing the divergences is unitive,” a bishop member of the synod told me. “It can provide healing.”

What message does it send to women when the first synod to include them as full, voting members opts to forgo an actual vote in favor of approval by applause?