Implementation stories

"Co-responsibility is one of the principles of synodality, which the Church encourages us to implement now. And I want to share with you how we implement synodality in our diocese of Navarongo Bogatanga in Ghana. I'm a daughter of charity working in that diocese. In partnership with others, we invite people, governmental and non-governmental organisations, to workshops, where we share with them what we do, and they also share with us what they do. And we agree on a common platform for implementing safeguarding in the diocese. Also, we work with sisters of various congregations in the diocese, and we have workshops with them, where they share with us what they are doing and their challenges with implementing safeguarding in their work and in their communities. I will also empower them through the training on how to implement this in their various places of work."

"Hello, my name is Abigail Clement Akorobo and I am from Nigeria. As a young woman fully engaged in the life of my local church, synodality has been practised in my church choir leadership through the participation of our leaders in the parish pastoral council. Our participation in the parish pastoral council has made our voice and our ideas impact on the decisions made in our church. Our parish pastoral council has become a listening forum where everyone is valued and listened to. Thanks to the application of the synodal principles of communion, participation and mission. May this synodal journey lead us to a church ever more faithful to the gospel and welcoming to all through Christ our Lord. Amen."

"Hi, I'm Susanne from Berlin, Germany. Well, we're talking about synodality, and my experience is something very personal, but maybe it helps also the other to look at synodality as something that creates unity. I really like it, and I enjoyed it when I heard something at the beginning of a meeting, for example, that really opens my heart, my thoughts, my spirit, and then I can really listen and can hear what the other one in the meeting wants to say to me. And this is for me, in the end, synodality, listen to each other and to be in this unity, which is not, I have to think the same like you, but we are starting from the same spirit."

"The implementation phase has really been a great moment in these past 12 months. I've seen quite a lot of interest on the part of dioceses to want to get to know the final document. So I've been involved in helping them to unpack it, to examine it and most of all to have a conversation about it, to pray with it. There have also been several religious organisations and schools and other kinds of Catholic organisations wanting to know more about synodality because they were not so involved in the earlier phases. So I do see the interest in synodality spreading, but at the same time there are also several challenges. There are still several pastoral leaders and various communities who are not yet so familiar with the whole concept of synodality and some are also facing difficulties, even resistances. So it does take time to spread the message, to provide the ongoing formation, to listen, to have a conversation. And I hope that in the months ahead, we can continue to connect with each other, to share our experiences and spread the word about the way of being Church, a way that's really based on listening, on discernment, communion, participation and mission. And in this way, we give a prophetic witness about walking together in a time when the world needs it so much."

"I would like to share that, as women, we have unique concerns and viewpoints. We measure the temperatures of our families. We see the challenges faced by young people, witness a world torn by conflict, and increasingly polarised societies. In the midst of this turmoil, Pope Francis organised the Synod of Bishops in a return to the origins of the Church, an invitation for all to gather in assembly in a spirit of listening, discerning, and dialogue. He reminds us that we are not saved alone, but walk together as people of God towards the kingdom. Todos, todos, todos. Synodality reminds us that we are not just passive recipients of evangelisation, but active participants. As such, I embark on a journey of formation which has given me a new depth in understanding my faith and in the way I see my Church. By highlighting the role of women in the Church, the Synod has given me a sense of belonging to the people of God with the same dignity and unity in the call to mission. This new awareness has been a source of great joy."

"I am from India. When I see the religious communities, some of them are familiar, aware, and recognise the seed of synodality already present in their charism. Some of them say that we are already living, but the vast majority still need to know what synodality is. The dissemination of information is lacking, maybe because not all had the synodal experience as I had, and so we are now beginning to implement this at different levels, at the plenary assembly of the bishops of India we had, and at the national and local CRI levels, and I see changes at the parish level, where the parish community, at the parish commission and financial matters are now more transparent, and people feel that they have a say. In some of the parishes where I am, I have witnessed this. Also, in my diocese, I come from the Archdiocese of Bangalore, small Christian communities are picking up."

"Hello, my name is Momoko. I am from Japan. I want to share with you my experience that I had in September. The Commission for Synodality of the Federation of the Asian Bishops Conference, we organised a three-day seminar for the bishops and for those who are in the offices of the FABC. We deepened about the final document about leadership, decision making, discernment, transparency, accountability, conversions of bond, and the really nice part of this seminar was that after each theme was given, we had the conversation in the spirit. And the group that we had, it was like the synod. We were laypeople, consecrated women, priests, cardinals, bishops in one table, and we were able to share about the same theme with the same time. And each of us, we had turns to do facilitators and to be presentators. So that was a nice practice to foster synodality in the places where we are. Thank you. Bye-bye."

"First, learning how to relate to one another. I am Rosemary Castañeda, a Dominican Sister of the Presentation. I attended both synodal assemblies, the ones in 2023 and 2024, and now I am happy to be at this new synodal assembly of the Church that journeys in Panama. Not only the archdiocese, but the entire Church at a national level. Our proposals have been several and very positive. First, the Panamanian Episcopal Conference has excellently welcomed the implementation of the synod. First, [gaining] knowledge of the synod's final document. Then we brought it down to the awareness of the priests, consecrated life, and movements. We held a pastoral assembly to jointly develop two or three lines of action for the implementation of the synod. First, learning how to relate to one another. Second, regarding the councils and bodies of participation—the pastoral council, the economic council—trying to revive them, making them execute, participate, and integrate with the parish community."

"We are working on the implementation of the Synod on Synodality, trying to ensure that in each of our countries where there is an Afro-descendant presence, inclusion and cultural diversity are taken into account, so that in this way each of our peoples feels part of this very implementation. We meet frequently with the Latin American team and also within each of our countries, particularly in Honduras, among the Garifuna peoples, we are trying to put into practice what our ancestors taught us about what synodality truly is. Nevertheless, we encounter some challenges, and those challenges are that many of the dioceses and parishes have not yet understood what inclusion really means, and what the actual reality and context in which our peoples live truly signifies, which must be taken into account within the process of implementing the Synod on Synodality."

"One of the things we learned in 2023 and 2024 was how baptism is the foundation for mission. And I've been reflecting on that a lot and trying to understand: who am I as a lay leader in the Church? Where does my mission lie? What does God want me to do? And where should I be in order to live that mission more fully? Another wonderful experience I had with Pope Francis was when I sat with him one-on-one and had a personal conversation with him. And that too has had a great impact because it made me reflect on who I am as a leader. Do I have time for people who want to talk to me? Do I make time for people to listen to their stories of church and faith and just have that sharing experience so that both of us are converted through that process? That's something I'm still trying to do. Hopefully, that's my area of growth in trying to live synodality in my life."

"Hello, my name is Julia Osęka, and one way in which the synodal process is being implemented that I really like is the emergence of youth leadership groups in the United States and here in Europe. I myself was involved in SCHEAP, Synodality in Catholic Higher Education in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which is now truly blossoming, and there is an even larger group of young people being protagonists in that process called the CENTERS. And I was also happy to discover that there is a German-speaking group called DAXBAU here in Europe. So those are the ways in which I think synodality as incorporating and inviting young people to be active in the Catholic Church is a really good example of the implementation."

"I am Sônia Gomes de Oliveira, and I am on the synod animation team of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB). In Brazil, we are already well advanced with the implementation of the synod. The national coordination team has already been formed; we have added more people to the national team, bringing representation from various parts of Brazil. The diocesan teams are already being called together and energized as well, so they can pursue and animate this implementation of the synod. So, it is proving to be very encouraging. All the diocesan teams and pastoral councils are already studying the final document. Today, studying the final document has become a guideline for the Church in Brazil. Several churches are also already implementing the methodology of prayer, conversations in the Spirit or listening in the Spirit, which is also proving to be a new but very rewarding experience. And finally, the guidelines that point the way forward for the pastoral path of the Church in Brazil are all in full alignment with the final document. So, for us in the Church in Brazil, it is proving to be an incredibly rich experience, within the vast diversity that Brazil holds. We are striving, motivated and filled with great hope, that this implementation can continue with this same energy in the Spirit that we have already managed to display within the Church in Brazil."

"From Latin America and the Caribbean, we are doing very strong, deep work for the reception and implementation of the Synodal Path, working with the various national bishops' conferences and with the synodality teams of the different dioceses, promoting this path that is so important for the life of the Church—not just as one more activity, but as a style of being, a style of living, a way of being Church. And in this Jubilee, we are experiencing firsthand the best practices, sharing the gifts of the entire journey we have made during this year, and encouraging one another to take new steps. Hopefully, personal, communal, and structural conversion will embrace us, and we can be witnesses to synodality in this time and in a constant dialogue with our world."