Pope Francis wants to oversee implementation of synodality

Mar 28, 2025

By Mikael Corre
Pope Francis is at work, and although he has been hospitalised for a month, business continues to move forward. This is the message coming from Rome in recent days and the reason behind the decision to publish a March 15 letter signed by Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod, addressed to all the world's bishops.

The letter specifies that “on March 11, the Holy Father gave his final approval” to the timeline of a new phase aimed at completing this major reform — both spiritual and governance-related — launched by Francis in 2021.

When he approved the sending of this document, the 88-year-old Pope had been hospitalised for 26 days and had just gone through several acute respiratory crises. Nevertheless, for a week, doctors had been saying that his condition was “stable” and showing “slight improvement.” His possible discharge from the hospital was even mentioned March 14 by the Vatican’s second-in- command, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who had gathered the ambassadors to the Holy See that morning, delivering this message at the opening of a Mass celebrated in the Pauline Chapel: “We gather in prayer this morning for the health of the Holy Father, so that he may recover and return soon among us.”

After this reassuring message to the political world, this letter on synodality, intended for the church, is anything but insignificant, especially as doubts still linger over Francis’s health and speculation about a possible resignation frequently appears in the press. When the final document of the Synod on Synodality was published on October 26, 2024 — immediately approved by the Pope, which is rare — several observers noted that this initiative, launched to de-clericalise and make the Church more horizontal, had something of a testamentary nature for Francis.

The message, sent March 15, aimed to ensure that this long and sometimes complex-to-understand process is not ignored. “This is not a phase of implementing synodality as such — many things are already in place locally. Rather, it is a way to help those who don’t know where to start,” a Vatican source diplomatically explained.

The letter outlined a very detailed timeline extending until October 2028 — when an “ecclesial assembly” is expected to be held in Rome — and states that this phase is meant to “accompany and evaluate” what has actually been put in place in dioceses. This includes, for example, women’s access to leadership positions, the establishment of financial transparency rules and abuse prevention measures, and the creation of councils around priests and bishops.

Cardinal Grech described this period of accompaniment and evaluation in the letter as “a process of consolidating the path taken.” It also served as a firm reminder that by approving the Synod's final text, the Pope has given it magisterial authority. This means that its content is binding on local churches and bishops as if the pope himself had written it.

And even though the requested governance changes have sparked some opposition within the church, this new process “will offer dioceses that have been less engaged in the synodal path so far the opportunity to catch up on the steps not yet completed and to form their own synodal teams,” the letter insists.


As a sign of this directive’s obligatory nature, Cardinal Grech, its signatory, asked the various dioceses to submit to Rome “the composition and references of [their] synodal team” via a dedicated form accompanying his message. -- LCI