Church leaders gather in Rome to prepare for Synod Assemblies of 2027-2028
Church leaders from all seven continental bodies met in Rome from June 23‑25 to discuss progress on the Synod on Synodality and plan the 2027‑2028 ecclesial Assemblies. The meeting focused on implementing the Final Document of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly, sharing regional experiences, and identifying shared challenges. A key part of the agenda was supporting local churches and regional groups in continuing the synodal process, with emphasis on communication strategies. The final day included a meeting with Pope Leo XIV, who will discuss the proceedings with participants.
3 months ago
The Vatican’s General Secretariat of the Synod convened continental church leaders in Rome from June 23‑25, 2026, to review the implementation of the Synod on Synodality and to prepare for the series of ecclesial Assemblies scheduled for 2027‑2028. The three‑day gathering brought together representatives from all seven continental ecclesial bodies, along with coordinators of regional synodal teams, and concluded with a meeting between Pope Leo XIV and the participants.
The meeting follows the conclusion of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2024, which launched the “Synod on Synodality” process. The current phase focuses on translating the final document of that assembly into concrete actions across the worldwide Church, with the ultimate goal of holding the first continental Assemblies in 2027‑2028 and culminating in a global Assembly in October 2028.
A key reference for the work is the newly published guide Towards the Assemblies 2027‑2028: Stages, criteria, and tools for Preparation, which outlines the stages and tools needed for the next steps.
The agenda includes dedicated sessions on supporting local churches and regional groupings as they continue the synodal process. Particular attention is given to the role of communication in fostering dialogue and participation throughout the implementation phase.
On the final afternoon, Pope Leo XIV met with the participants at the General Secretariat of the Synod’s headquarters. The Holy Father engaged in dialogue, emphasizing the importance of shared reflection and the Church’s collective journey toward the 2028 Assembly.
The gathering set the stage for the continental Assemblies that will serve as a preparatory step toward the global Assembly in October 2028. Issues such as broader participation, representation of diverse voices, and the Secretariat’s supportive role will continue to shape the synodal pathway in the coming years.
Investigate the Catholic Church’s evolving synodal practice
The Catholic Church’s synodal practice has been evolving from a mainly episcopal-collegial exercise (bishops with the Pope) into a broader, more “whole-Church” synodal process that emphasizes listening, consultation, and discernment across local, regional, and universal levels—while still preserving the Church’s essential structure of communion with the Bishop of Rome and the Pope’s full, supreme, and universal power.
A key continuity point is that “synodality” is not an alternative principle to Catholic ecclesiology; it is lived inside the Church’s communion structure.
Vatican II teaches that the Pope and bishops are joined together, yet the college of bishops has no authority unless it is understood with the Roman Pontiff as its head.
The Council also states that the Pope’s primacy “remains whole and intact,” and that collegiate power can be exercised only because the head “calls” or approves the action—so bishops never act as a college independently of the Pope.
This matters for “evolution,” because the Church can increase consultation and participation without weakening the doctrinal logic of primacy and hierarchical communion.
Vatican II likewise links the bishops’ authority to acting “in hierarchical communion with the head and the members of the college.”
So the development of synodal process (more listening, more voices) is best understood as a deepening of how communion is exercised and discerned—not as a replacement for sacramental and hierarchical structures.
A major development in synodal shaping is the renewed practice of the Synod of Bishops under the constitution Episcopalis communio (2018).
The Dicastery document explains that Episcopalis communio explicitly highlights the synodal renewal’s value for ecumenical unity and frames the synodal process as having both “its point of departure” and “its point of arrival in the People of God,” through consultation processes.
It also emphasizes how the synod can (in some cases) be deliberative, with the final synodal document published in continuity with the ordinary magisterium: it “participates” in the Pope’s magisterial act and is issued with the Pope’s signature together with that of the members.
The same dicastery source notes that the 2021–2024 synodal process for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly was a “favourable occasion” to deepen reflection on the synodal dynamic articulating personal, collegial, and communal dimensions of the Church—built on broad consultation at local, regional, and universal levels.
A scholarly Catholic historical account similarly describes the shift in emphasis: for much of the Synod of Bishops’ modern history, synod/synodality largely referred to collegial exercise of episcopal authority; in recent years, synodality has increasingly been presented as something pertaining to the essence of the Church and every aspect of its life and mission.
The International Theological Commission describes how, at the universal level, a more precise preparation procedure allows Episcopal Conferences to contribute more effectively to synodal processes involving the entire People of God—through consultation of lay faithful and experts in the preparatory phase.
This is an example of practical evolution: the Church is not merely meeting (synod as event) but also designing preparatory consultation as a constitutive part of the discernment process.
The Final Document of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly (2024) describes the seven continental ecclesial assemblies held at the beginning of 2023 as both “a relevant innovation” and a “legacy” to treasure.
It connects these assemblies to conciliar teaching on valuing “each major socio-cultural area” for deeper adaptation in Christian life.
Importantly, the Final Document also flags an ongoing work: it is necessary to clarify the theological and canonical status of ecclesial assemblies and the continental groupings of Episcopal Conferences, and specifically calls the Presidents of these groupings to encourage and sustain the continued development of the process.
That is precisely what “evolving practice” looks like in Catholic terms: expanding structures while simultaneously working out their status so communion and canonical order are safeguarded.
Pope Leo XIV repeatedly stresses listening as intrinsic to the synodal dynamic. In an Extraordinary Consistory he says: the synodal dynamic “implies a listening par excellance,” and the Church must not “arrive at a text, but continue a conversation.”
This aligns with earlier magisterial emphasis on pastoral dialogue as rooted in listening, not merely in hearing those who confirm preferences. Pope Francis taught that participatory processes should aim at “the missionary aspiration of reaching everyone,” and encourages the bishop to develop means of participation and pastoral dialogue “out of a desire to listen to everyone.”
Evangelii Gaudium also provides a guiding principle for interpreting synodal evolution. It warns against complacency (“We have always done it this way”) and invites bold creativity about goals, structures, style, and methods—yet it insists the point is not bureaucratic redesign but missionary discernment “under the leadership of the bishops.”
This helps prevent a common misreading of “synodality”: more participation is not merely about changing internal governance; it should serve evangelization and reaching people.
Even before the recent multiyear process, the Church already used synodal assemblies on continental, regional, and national levels. John Paul II (Ecclesia in Africa) describes how these series of Synodal Assemblies—general and special—have unfolded for nearly thirty years and function as part of the Church’s preparation for a Great Jubilee.
So the evolution is best understood as a development of intensity and integration, not an invention of synodal life from scratch.
Episcopalis communio gives the General Secretariat competence for “preparation and implementation” of synod assemblies, and for other matters the Roman Pontiff may put before it for the good of the universal Church. It also specifies cooperation with synods/councils/assemblies of Eastern Churches and with Episcopal Conferences and Roman Curia dicasteries.
This supports the picture of synodal practice becoming more integrated across levels and rites, not isolated within a single jurisdictional layer.
Episcopalis communio also states that the General Secretariat will issue an Instruction on the conduct of synodal assemblies and regulations for each synod assembly.
So “evolution” includes the production of concrete norms for process—another indicator that synodality is being increasingly operationalized.
For Eastern Catholic Churches, the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches states that the synod of bishops of a patriarchal Church is exclusively competent to make laws for the entire patriarchal Church (with specific limits), and it also has other listed competencies (elections and tribunal functions).
This shows that “synodal practice” in the Catholic Church is not only a Latin phenomenon; it also includes juridically structured synodal governance already embedded in Eastern canonical tradition.
The Catholic Church’s evolving synodal practice is not “democratic replacement” but “communion-and-discernment refinement.”
Vatican II insists the Pope’s power remains “whole and intact,” and that the episcopal college’s authority is exercised together with its head.
Therefore, when synodal practice expands consultation (lay faithful, experts, conferences, continental assemblies), it must still flow into discernment that is compatible with hierarchical communion.
The dicastery source explicitly uses the language that the synodal process has its point of arrival in the People of God through consultation, while also explaining how synodal documents “participate” in the ordinary magisterium and are issued with the Pope’s signature with that of members.
This is a practical answer to the controversy about whether synods can “change doctrine”: the sources provided indicate a model of broader participation while preserving the Church’s magisterial and primatial framework.
Across the sources, the Church’s synodal evolution can be summarized as three linked developments:
In short, Catholic synodal practice is evolving by increasing listening and discernment across the People of God while remaining anchored in hierarchical communion with the Pope as the enduring structural and theological limit.