Synod Implementation Phase – Next Steps

The Implementation Phase – EN

The Implementation Phase – FR

The implementation phase aims to examine new practices and structures that will make the life of the Church more synodal. These Pathways, prepared by the General Secretariat of the Synod with the favourable opinion of its Ordinary Council and approved by the Holy Father Leo XIV, are part of the General Secretariat’s service of accompaniment during the implementation phase of the Synod. They have a twofold purpose. On the one hand, they aim to offer local Churches throughout the world a shared framework that will make it easier to walk together. On the other hand, they promote the dialogue that will lead the whole Church to the Ecclesial Assembly in October 2028.

English

French

Key Documents

  • The General Secretariat of the Synod has sent to all Bishops and Eparchs, and through them, to the whole “Holy People of God” entrusted to their care, a Letter on the accompaniment process of the implementation phase of the Synod «For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission: English, French.
  • Instrumentum Laboris 2, the working paper for the 2nd session of the XVI Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. This document will form the agenda for the October 2024 Assembly of the Synod. There is also a “Short Presentation of the Instrumentum Laboris for the Second Session“.
  • May 2024 report: To Be a Church in Mission – a short report prepared by the Archdiocesan Synod Team based on the feedback received during our Spring 2024 Spiritual Conversations.
  • Spiritual Conversation Guide – a local version of the Spiritual Conversations used for the Spring 2024 listening process. This process of listening to the Holy Spirit is based in Ignatian spirituality and has been used in spiritual direction and communal discernment processes for centuries. The Synod Secretariat proposes this method as a principal means of forming and strengthening synodal life throughout the church. Every group within the church is invited to use this Spiritual Conversation Guide in their gatherings and discernment.
  • A Synodal Church in Mission – In the late afternoon of Saturday 28 October 2023, the members of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops adopted this Synthesis Report. This may be considered an interim report of the Synod.
  • The Instrumentum Laboris (or Working Paper) for the 1st session of the XVI Assembly of the Synod Bishops, held in Rome in October 2023. This document formed the principle agenda for the Synod delegates as they met.
  • May 2022 report: Called to Be a Listening Church – The report from the Archdiocese of Regina at the end of the Diocesan Phase of the Synod. This report was sent to the Assembly of Western Catholic Bishops where it was incorporated into a Western Canadian synthesis. A further national synthesis was prepared by the CCCB, and a continental synthesis by a joint CCCB and USCCB committee. Finally, an international synthesis text was prepared in summer 2023 that formed the basis of the Instrumentum Laboris for the 1st session of the XVI Assembly of the Synod Bishops, held in Rome in October 2023. Watch the video of the May 28, 2022 Archdiocesan Synod Gathering.
  • Archbishop Donald Bolen’s letter of Oct. 4, 2021, inviting all the faithful to participate in the Synod.