On the eve of the final session of the Synod on Synodality, a diverse group of women working in ministry at the margins of the church had the opportunity of a lifetime: a private audience with Pope Francis.

While it might not generate as many headlines as women deacons or L.G.B.T. Catholics, the role of the bishops has emerged as one of the most prominent—and controversial—topics of the Synod on Synodality.

Collaboration and compassion are two keys to a bishop's role in a synod church, argues the Most Reverend W. Shawn McKnight, the bishop of Jefferson City, Mo.

Nature abhors a vacuum, and without a clear focus for conversation at the synod, people will naturally try to fill it with any number of issues.

On this episode of Inside the Vatican, host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell are joined by producer Ricardo da Silva, S.J., to recap the first week of the synod.

Pope Francis preaches about synodality, but the canon lawyers are showing us how to make it more than a pious wish that can be ignored by pastors and bishops who prefer to stick to the old ways.