Synodality: A Constitutive Dimension of Church?

What is the nature of synodality? This was one of the significant questions discerned by the 355 synod delegates gathered in Rome last month.

Is synodality a flavour of the month? A fad brought to the Church by Pope Francis? A tiresome journey that has fatigued many? Or is it more fundamentally embedded in the lifeblood of the Church?

How you see synodality determines what we do next. If synodality is merely a spirituality, it is one of many that have coexisted for 2000 years. If synodality is more than spirituality, then our work is vital for the Church’s next phase.

The delegates declared synodality a key, permanent aspect of Church, essential to Christ’s vision.

The delegates approved the final document, in which synodality is carefully defined, and then the Holy Father approved it for printing. He went further to make the document part of his ordinary magisterium. He will not issue an Apostolic Exhortation on it. The document defines synodality this way:

Synodality is the walking together of Christians with Christ and towards God’s Kingdom, in union with all humanity. Orientated towards mission, synodality involves gathering at all levels of the Church for mutual listening, dialogue, and communal discernment. It also involves reaching consensus as an expression of Christ rendering Himself present, He who is alive in the Spirit. Furthermore, it consists in reaching decisions according to differentiated co-responsibilities. Along these lines, we can understand better what it means to say that synodality is a constitutive dimension of the Church. (28)

The word “constitutive” appears in the text. It is not a new word applied to synodality.

In 2015, Pope Francis addressed the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops. He said, “Synodality, as a constitutive element of the Church, offers us the most appropriate interpretive framework for understanding the hierarchical ministry itself.”

He quoted St John Chrysostom, saying, “the Church and Synod are synonymous.” Mysteriously, this word was absent from the Instrumentum Laboris and the draft of the final 2024 document. Why is this important?

Synodality, as a constitutive dimension of the Church, is a permanent dimension that cannot be ignored or diminished with a new pope, bishop, or parish priest. Constitutive means that which is elemental to… like the elements that make up an atom. If it is missing, it changes the nature of the thing.

Historic precedent

In a 1971 synod, Bishops debated the link between social justice and Christian life. After their deliberation, they stated with confidence: “Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation” (Justice in the World, 1971).

The 1971 synod had asked, “Is social justice essential or important to us today?” To speak of constitutive means that if the Church is not promoting justice, it fails to be what Jesus wants. On the other hand, to describe social justice as important means it is part of the Church—vital maybe, but a non-essential part.

The same question faced the delegates of the 2024 synod. Is synodality constitutive of the Church? Or is it an important part of Church life? The delegates determined that synodality is constitutive to the Church’s life, now and for all time. The delegates of the 2024 synod, like those in 1971, made a bold decision.

Present from the beginning

The final document states that synodality describes three distinct aspects of the Church’s life: First, “the particular style that qualifies the life and mission of the Church, expressing her nature as the People of God … Synodality ought to be expressed in the Church’s ordinary way of living and working” (30 a); secondly, “those structures and ecclesial processes in which the synodal nature of the Church is expressed at an institutional level” (30 b); and, thirdly, “the programme of those synodal events in which the Church is called together by the competent authority” (30c).

If synodality is constitutive, it must have existed in the New Testament Church, even if only in an embryonic form. The third level, the assembly, is very easy to recognise.

The events of Acts 15 and the Council of Jerusalem are the first to show synodality as a decision-making process under a competent authority. Most times, when we speak of synod, we refer to this text.

But it reveals more than an event under proper authority. It also expresses a way of being and deciding. It speaks to the first and second levels of synodality as defined by the document.

Is synodality elsewhere in the New Testament? In the Scriptures, Jesus is often “on the way” with His disciples. People called the early Church ‘The Way.’ These are the early scriptural roots.

The Acts of the Apostles highlight the Church’s synodal nature as it made and took decisions. Acts 13:2 reveals a discernment process whereby Paul and Barnabas are set apart for mission. Acts 2:42 sees fellowship as devotion. The first converts devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer.

The word fellowship is from the Greek word koinōnia. It has several levels of meaning. In English, fellowship, communion, sharing, or participating interpret it. At the most human level, it refers to solidarity with Christians, especially those in material need, as in Romans 15:26.

On another level, it speaks of partnership with the Body of Christ, as in 1 Corinthians 10:16. At the deepest level, it is a participation in the Paschal mystery, as in Philippians 3:10.

The early Church’s devotion to koinōnia is what we are speaking about in synodality on the first level. It is solidarity with humanity; it is participation in the mystical body and the paschal mystery of Christ.

If we look at Ephesians 4, we also see a model of Church, which we can now call synodal. Each person is urged to live their vocation (4:1) and recognise that Christ gifts each member of the body of Christ with His grace (4:7).

Each person plays a different role in the community (4:11). Your role is to equip you “for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (4:12). Above all, each must work for unity in the body of Christ (4:2–6). It is a relational Church where there is self-emptying, discernment, deep listening, and conversion.

Synodality inculturated

The final document goes further. It states that synodality is already present in the Church. It may be in ways we have not previously recognised. It says: “With this document, the Assembly recognises and bears witness that synodality, a constitutive dimension of the Church, is already part of the experience of many of our communities.” (12)

This is vital. The document is sensitive to local customs and cultures. Where in our culture do we see people walking together in their decision-making— in solidarity and accompanying others?

The task for each local Church is to look again at the cultural forms of synodality and build upon these forms, even if they are embryonic.

What are the cultural ways in which people come together for decision-making and taking?

What synodal structures already exist in the Church?

How can these structures grow to become a fully discerning community in which each leader in the Church understands and practices discernment in their personal life, in their groups, and in leading the Church as a whole?

Key Message: With synodality defined as a constitutive dimension of the Church, there is no going back to a parliamentary democracy or the rules of order for groups and communities to make and take decisions. The way forward is through leaders deepening their discipleship using all the tools of synodality in bringing their people together to make and take decisions in a way that makes the Church more transparent and accountable, i.e., more synodal.

Action Step: Consider how you make decisions in your family and groups. How can you make a step towards the synodal way?

Scripture Reading: Acts 11:2–12