~ by Christopher White, National Catholic Reporter
Throughout the October 2-27 synod, some 400 delegates from all over the world will meet in Rome to bring to a close a years long consultation process Pope Francis launched in 2021. It invited Catholics from around the world to have their say in how the church might become more inclusive and better at listening to all its members.
Millions of Catholics responded, and at last year’s first session of the synod, the delegates — representing a wide array of views and backgrounds — engaged in intense and sometimes heated discussions on several contentious issues facing the church. They addressed issues including clergy abuse, the role of women in ministry, inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics and other questions surrounding church authority.
As the delegates reconvene, Francis has insisted that he doesn’t want hot-button issues to dominate the event. Rather, he wants the assembly to focus on how the church’s structures can encourage greater participation and to determine where there is room for “legitimate diversity” among local churches on different issues and practices.
“With the help of the Holy Spirit, we must listen to and understand these voices — that is, the ideas, the expectations, the proposals — so as to discern together the voice of God speaking to the church,” Francis said at the opening Mass in St. Peter’s
Pope Francis, who has made synodality the centerpiece of his papacy and the primary vehicle for implementing church reforms, told those gathered that the issues facing the synod are “great and delicate” and must be guided by humility and careful