Cardinal Grech: A new path to help the Church walk in a synodal style

By Andrea Tornielli

Vatican Media spoke with Cardinal Mario Grech, the Secretary General of the Synod, about the objectives of the  process that will accompany the implementation of the Synod on synodality approved by Pope Francis and which will culminate in the Ecclesial Assembly in 2028. "The goal of the journey  that  General Secretariat of the Synod is proposing to local Churches,“ he explains, “is not is not to add work upon work but to help Churches walk in a synodal style." Here is an extract of the interview. 

The Synod on Synodality seemed to be concluded… and now it is starting again, at the will of Pope Francis, who from the Gemelli Hospital approved the work schedule for the next three years...

Cardinal Grech: It is true—many thought the Synod had concluded with the celebration of the second session of the Assembly last October. As a matter of fact, the Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis Communio has "transformed" the Synod from an event into a process structured in three phases: preparatory, celebratory, and implementative (EC, art. 4).

This shift requires a true "conversion," a change in mentality that takes time to take root in the Church’s practice. But this structure is fundamental: simply publishing a "document" is not enough for what emerged in the two phases of the synodal process to be implemented in the Church’s life. That "document" must be "received" as the fruit of ecclesial discernment and as a horizon for conversion.

And this is exactly what has happened: the Holy Father, who is the principle of unity in the Church and the guarantor of the synodal process, entrusts the local Churches and their groups with the task of applying the Assembly’s recommendations in their own local contexts, as he recommends in his Accompanying Note to the Final Document. Many Churches have already responded generously and have set things in motion—so in fact, the work never stopped after the end of the Assembly.

What will happen between now and 2028?

What is now beginning is more of a process of accompaniment and evaluation of the implementation phase that is already underway. The Holy Father arrived to ths decision with the contribution of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod, composed largely of members elected during the Assembly.

This process does not diminish the role of each Church in receiving and applying the fruits of the Synod in its own unique way. Rather, it encourages the entire Church to take responsibility—indeed, a great co-responsibility—because by valuing local Churches, it also associates the episcopal college with the exercise of the Pope’s ministry.

So, what is the precise goal of this process?

It is a process aimed at fostering dialogue among Churches about the insights developed in the implementation phase. After a period of work at the local level (until 2026), the goal is to create, in a synodal style, spaces for dialogue and exchange of gifts among Churches.

This is one of the most valuable aspects that has emerged from the synodal journey so far. The aim is to ensure that implementation does not happen in isolation, as if each diocese or eparchy were a separate entity, but that bonds between Churches at national, regional, and continental levels are strengthened. At the same time, these moments of dialogue will allow for an authentic walking together, offering the opportunity to evaluate, in a spirit of co-responsibility, the choices made. The meetings planned for 2027 and early 2028 will naturally lead toward the Ecclesial Assembly of October 2028. This final  Assembly will then be able to offer the Holy Father valuable insights—fruits of a real ecclesial experience—to aid his discernment as the Successor of Peter, with perspectives to propose to the entire Church. Implementation and evaluation must proceed together, intertwining in a dynamic and shared process—this is precisely the culture of accountability evoked in the Final Document.

2026 will be a year entirely devoted to the work of the various dioceses. What do you expect?

It is essential to restart from the work done in the listening phase, but it is equally essential not to repeat it to the identical. In this phase, it is no longer just a matter of listening and gathering the listening of the People of God, but rather of allowing the Church leaders and synod teams to carry on a dialogue with the rest of the People of God on the contents that have emerged from the synod journey in their totality so that this journey is adapted to their own culture and tradition. This is also another possibility of appealing to the whole People of God as sharers in the prophetic function of Christ (cf. LG 12) and subjects of the sensus fidei. I hope that the principle of circularity within and between Churches will become operative in the ordinary practice of the Church.

How should the local churches operate?

We are invited not only to repeat but to make all members of the People of God active subjects of ecclesial life and to set the path of each Church by reason of this recognized capacity, which must be supported and formed. This first year and a half will also be an opportunity to involve those who had previously participated less actively. To have synodal experiences, to experience the conversation in the Spirit that has made our communities grow so much. Now that the picture is clearer and a more shared understanding of synodality has developed, together-no one excluded-we can find tools to continue the journey with renewed energy.

What can we do to involve the People of God more, avoiding the risk that the synodal path remains confined among the subjects for “experts,” for people already involved in ecclesial structures? How to ensure that this new challenging step is not experienced as one more bureaucratic task added to the others?

The Preparatory Document, which initiated the whole synod process, begins precisely with this statement, “The Church of God is convoked in Synod.” There is nothing that can involve the whole Church and everyone in the Church more than the synod process. This was seen in the first phase, with the listening to the People of God in the local churches. The way forward now is the same. This implementation path is challenging not because it calls for adding more activity for “pastoral workers,” especially ordained, instituted or de facto ministers. The commitment is to live the ecclesial journey of each Church with a synodal mentality, within a synodal horizon, maturing a synodal style that is the prerequisite for a synodal form of Church. I repeat the adjective, to emphasize how the issue is one of mentality. The meaning of the path that the Synod Secretariat is proposing to the local churches is not to add work to work in response to demands coming from outside or above, but to help the churches to walk in a synodal style; in a word, to truly be Churches, where the portio Populi Dei entrusted to the bishop with the help of his presbytery and ministries is truly a Church of subjects in relationship, embodying the Gospel in the place where they are.

When will this work be concluded?

It is still difficult to say when the Groups will conclude their work. As indicated a year ago when they were established, the Groups are asked to present their conclusions to the Holy Father “possibly by June 2025.” Some of the Groups should be able to meet this deadline. Others, on the contrary, may need additional time, but will still offer an interim report on their work by the end of June. Also at work at the same time are the Canonical Commission, established as early as 2023, which has made itself available to support the 10 Groups in matters within its purview, as well as a Group established within SECAM (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) for the pastoral care of those living in polygamy.

Can you explain what the 2028 Ecclesial Assembly is? In the letter, it is explicitly stated that it will not be a new Synod…

I would say that the 2021–2024 Synod was a "first" in many ways.

It was the first time that the regulations of Episcopalis Communio were fully applied.

It was the first time that the entire Church—and everyone within it—had the opportunity to participate in the synodal process.

It was the first time that non-bishop members participated in the Assembly.

It was the first time that a Final Document was immediately approved by the Holy Father, thus becoming part of his ordinary Magisterium.

Now, in the third phase of the synodal process, we have another first: an Ecclesial Assembly.

Since this is the first time an Ecclesial Assembly is being held at the level of the entire Church, many details still need to be defined. However, we can draw upon the experience of the Continental Stage Assemblies, which were all ecclesial in nature.

What characteristics will it have? How will it differ from the two sessions of the Synodal Assembly that we experienced in 2023 and 2024?

The goal of the Ecclesial Assembly, which is the final event of the process, is no other than that indicated by the Final Document for the third stage, namely to make concrete the prospect of the exchange of gifts among the Churches and in the whole Church (cf. nn. 120-121). If during the stages of the third phase it will be possible to realize at the various levels of the groupings of Churches (Provinces, Bishops' Conferences, International Meetings of Bishops' Conferences) the exchange of gifts through the confrontation and sharing of the processes initiated in the local Churches, the Ecclesial Assembly will be the occasion to gather at the level of the whole Church the fruits that have matured.

The possibility of this Ecclesial Assembly is all contained in the Holy Father's final greeting at the conclusion of the Second Synod Assembly. He clarified that “on some aspects of the life of the Church pointed out in the Document, as well as on the themes entrusted to the ten ‘Study Groups,’ which must work with freedom, in order to offer me proposals, there is a need for time, in order to arrive at choices that involve the whole Church. I, then, will continue to listen to the bishops and the Churches entrusted to them”. The third phase corresponds to this time of listening to how the Final Document operates in the life of the Churches, and the Final Assembly constitutes the moment of synthesis, capable of gathering the fruits of this listening.

This is why the Assembly is ecclesial, which is tantamount to emphasizing its different nature and function from the Synodal Assembly we have already celebrated, which is and remains essentially an Assembly of Bishops. The fruit of that Assembly was the Final Document, which participates, as we have already said, in the ordinary Magisterium of the Successor of Peter. In the light of that document, it is required of the whole Church - of every Church and every bishop as the principle of unity of his Church - to live the third phase, which will have its landing in the Ecclesial Assembly. This Assembly should be the visible manifestation of that truth that opened the Preparatory Document: “The Church of God is convoked in Synod” to witness what the fruits of the Church's synodal journey are.

In the calendar proposed by the letter, there is mention of a new jubilee appointment scheduled for next October, that of the synodal teams. What is it all about?

Jubilee is closely associated with pilgrimage. The synodal Church is pilgrim Church, which is made evident in the “walking together” of the People of God toward the fulfillment of the Kingdom. The jubilee of synodal teams and participatory bodies (because these structures also offer spaces for synodal life in the local Churches) is meant to be the celebratory moment in which this synodal dimension of the Church is made manifest in the journey of the People of God to the tomb of Peter, gathering at the same time around the Successor of Peter, the principle of the communion of all the baptized, of all the Churches, of all the bishops. Again, the whole Church should be on pilgrimage. We thought of convening the synodal teams because they are made up of people who have put their time and energy at the service of the synodal process. We have asked for their reactivation because they will be “spearhead” in this path of implementation.

What do you expect from this meeting?

With them, we intend to experience it not only as a celebratory moment, but as an “opportune” time of deepening synodality as a constitutive dimension of the Church, with all that this entails for the journey of the Church, which desires to implement a synodal conversion, as the Holy Father also reminds us in his Message for Lent that we are living.  Considering that this synodal conversion will be able to help for the renewal of the Church and for a new missionary impetus, this is truly a reason for hope that does not disappoint.

Will this Letter to the Bishops and the People of God entrusted to them published today be accompanied by other aids?

At this time we are not providing material or further guidance than what is contained in the letter to the local churches. They already have everything they need to work on implementation: the Final Document. Also the various moments presented in the letter will be more defined with their help and, of course, with the Ordinary Council of our Secretariat. In recent years, we have had various online meetings, which have been very useful, with bishops and eparchs, with the Bishops' Conferences and the equivalent Bodies of the Eastern Catholic Churches, with the International Meetings of the Bishops' Conferences; therefore, we do not exclude holding similar meetings in this new phase as well to agree on the progress of the project. On several occasions I have said that the service of the General Secretariat of the Synod is not to have directions lowered from above to be carried out, but is first and foremost a willingness to listen to the needs, insights and proposals that come to us from the local Churches. The subsidies that we intend to offer during this journey, beginning with the one in May-as announced-will also be the fruit of this ecclesial listening exercise.

Can you say in a few words what is the heart of the message that came out of the two Synodal Assemblies dedicated to synodality?

Wanting to say in a few words even the “heart” of the message that came out of the Synodal Assembly, moreover in two sessions, risks being very reductive. I would certainly emphasize the dynamics of the process: the transition from the first to the second session showed how ecclesial discernment works, through prolonged listening that ripens consensus. The Final Document is the mature outcome of a patient process by stages, in which we learned a synodal style and method. The synodal process is telling everyone that synodality is possible; that a synodal style of the Church is possible; that the synodal form of the Church is possible. And it urges everyone to make it possible, in docility to the Holy Spirit who leads the Church in this direction, because it invites the Church to a renewed missionary witness to the joy of the Gospel.

What role will the Final Document approved in 2024 play?

The Final Document is the mature fruit of this process. Its contents are such that they constitute a map for the conversion and renewal of the Church in a synodal sense. All the work that awaits us in these next three years is inspired by the contents of this Document, which must be experimented with, in order to verify the possibility of realizing them in the life of the Church. Let me make two points. The first: that the Final Document constitutes an authoritative act of reception of the Second Vatican Council “prolonging its inspiration and relaunching for today's world its prophetic force” (DF 5). Indeed, the Document says that “the synodal journey is in fact putting into action what the Council taught about the Church as Mystery and People of God, called to holiness through a continuous conversion that comes from listening to the Gospel” (DF 5).

The second: that whichever way one enters-whether from the foundations of synodality, expressed in the first chapter, or from any other chapter-when one explores the themes that weave the Document together, one grasps the profound unity and harmony of the text. It is a document that lets one see the beauty of the Church and the possibility of its renewal: renewal that, when it sets out on the path of synodality as a way of being and acting, is realized in the richness of Tradition. In extreme synthesis one could say: heart of the message is that all of us baptized are all disciples and all of us missionaries, seriously committed to a conversion of relationships to facilitate the encounter of Jesus with the men and women of today. The Synod has offered and offers legs and perspectives to the pastoral and missionary conversion to which since the beginning of his pontificate Pope Francis has invited us.