“I have often emphasized that the synodal journey requires a spiritual conversion because without an interior transformation, lasting results cannot be achieved,” he said. “My hope is that following this Synod [on Synodality], synodality may endure as a permanent mode of working within the Church, at all levels, permeating the hearts of all, pastors and faithful alike, until it becomes a shared ‘ecclesial style.’”

These goals, however, require a change within each of us, he added.

As part of this spiritual conversion, he also encouraged the meeting participants to foster humility — “the gateway to all virtues.”

“It saddens me when I encounter Christians who boast: because I am a priest from this place, or because they are laypeople from that place, because I am from this institution... This is a bad thing. Humility is the door, the beginning,” he said.--CNA