Final Document of the 2024 Synod of Bishops. An Important and Practical Summons to Reform the Present Synodal Church

Abstract

Institution of the Synod of Bishops was established by Pope Paul VI in motu proprio Apostolica sollicitudo dated September 15, 1965, in which, among other things, it can be read that it is established and directly subordinated to the Bishop of Rome. Paul VI also indicated that the general aim of the Synod of Bishops is intentional expression by the episcopate of its participation in the obligations of the Bishop of Rome, as well as joint responsibility for the entire Church. Pope Francis himself in his teaching and undertaken decisions very clearly desired to boost the dynamics of the meaning and role of the Synod of Bishops in the present Church even more. This was very explicitly expressed in his practical statements of the Episcopalis communio (2018) apostolic constitution. In his final speech on October 26, 2024, delivered during the second session of the Sixteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops Pope Francis communicated that he did not intend to issue an apostolic exhortation due to the completed works of the Synod of Bishops; he indicated that the final document of that Synod of Bishops is sufficient. He ordered to publish it in order to be itself, together with the guides included in it, a handbook for the mission of the present Church that is carried out on various continents and in different contexts. Presentation and analysis of this document that was prepared synodally and that is important for the present Church will be preceded with a short reflection on the role and meaning of the Synod of Bishops in the present Church. That reflection seems to be necessary as in 2025 there is exactly sixty years since that central institution of the Church has been established by Pope Paul VI in 1965, i.e. still during the session of the Second Vatican Council.