For the first time in the history of the synod, Pope Francis has given women the right to vote and has also made a radical change to the membership of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality.

With church leaders slated to meet in October for the next phase of the Synod on Synodality, the bishops conferences of the U.S. and Canada released a report summarizing the virtual meetings conducted with lay and ordained Catholics earlier this year.

Becquart has been traveling the globe in recent weeks as an ambassador for the Synod on Synodality, planned for October in Rome.

What is the way out of polarization? And why does that question—along with the now-commonplace observation that society suffers from deepening divisions about everything from gun control to abortion to public funding for religious schools—seem so exhausting?

In a way, maybe we are living all together as baptized Christians in the synodal process in the same way that the council fathers at Vatican II experienced collegiality in their role as bishops.

“Our communion is unsure of itself.” We must “recover a sense of what holds us together.” The stakes are very high for our church, and listening to one another is the first step on a much longer journey.