For as long as God has created humans, we have used various forms of communication that have continually evolved how we communicate with one another.
A synod is one way in which the Catholic church engages in dialogue with one another. The first recorded event occurred roughly 25 years after the crucifixion, when the council decreed that Gentile Christians were not required to observe Jewish Mosaic Law, as described in the book of Acts of the Apostles.
Over the centuries, the Church held a wide range of synods or councils, with Pope Paul VI’s establishment of the Synod of Bishops in 1965 being one of the most recent examples.
Bishops settled the most important matters in common at the Synod, and a decision was carefully reached through the counsel of many.
The Synod 2021-2023 adopts a new approach known as “Synodality”, which refers to everyone’s involvement and participation in the life and mission of the Church. Because they share in Christ’s one priesthood, the entire People of God is called to receive the various charisms bestowed by the Holy Spirit for the common good.
“Synodality” is the specific modus vivendi et operandi (way of living and operating) of the Church, the People of God, that reveals and gives substance to her being as communion when all her members journey together, gather in assembly, and actively participate in her evangelizing mission.
In this view, Synodality is much more than the celebration of ecclesial meetings and Bishops’ assemblies, or a matter of simple internal Church administration; all of her members journey together, gather in assembly, and actively participate in her evangelizing mission.
Ir emphasizes the common dignity and mission of all baptized people as they exercise the variety and ordered richness of their charisms, vocations, and ministries. In this context, the concept of communion expresses the profound substance of the Church’s mystery and mission, the source and summit of which is the Eucharistic synaxis.
Synodality implies that the entire Church is a subject, as is everyone in the Church. The faithful are σύνοδοι (sý.no.dos), companions on the journey.