VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Almost four years after Pope Francis opened the Catholic Church’s path toward synodality — a term many in the church had never heard before — his successor has thrown his support behind the last leg of the church’s’ synodal journey.

The Synod of Bishops, which admitted women, lay and other non-bishop voting members among its ranks during its two universal assemblies in October 2023 and 2024, “naturally retains its institutional profile and at the same time is enriched by the mature fruits of this season,” Pope Leo XIV told the ordinary council of the synod June 26. “You are the body appointed to reap these fruits and make a prospective reflection.”

Over two days, the council convened to approve a document for the synod’s final implementation stage intended to improve dialogue between local churches and the Vatican synod office, the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops said in a statement June 30. The document will be released July 7 at www.synod.va.

The council also discussed the work of study groups instituted by Pope Francis to deal with hot-button topics — such as women’s ordination and changes to priestly formation.

Pope Leo XIV addresses the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod during a meeting at the Vatican June 26, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The study groups were scheduled to present interim reports on their findings in June 2025, but the synod office noted that “due to the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV, there have been delays.” In agreement with Pope Leo, the deadline to submit the final reports was extended to Dec. 31, 2025, and the interim reports will be published on the synod office’s website as they are received, it said.

According to the apostolic constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis,” which governs procedures when the papacy is vacant, a council or Synod of Bishops is immediately suspended when a pope dies or resigns. All meetings, decisions and promulgations must cease until a new pope explicitly orders their continuation, or they are considered null.

The late pope launched the diocesan phase of the worldwide synodal process in October 2021, and it was originally scheduled to culminate with an in-person assembly in Rome in October 2023. Another assembly was held after a year of listening in October 2024, and in March, Pope Francis launched a three-year implementation phase of the synod that will culminate in an ecclesial assembly at the Vatican in October 2028.

Pope Leo told the synod’s ordinary council June 26, “I encourage you in this work, I pray that it may be fruitful and as of now I am grateful.”

Pope Leo XIV poses for a photo with the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod during a meeting at the Vatican June 26, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops said that the expected document, titled “Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod,” is a practical and theological guide for diocesan bishops and synodal teams as they apply the synod’s final proposals locally.

The synod office noted that this phase of the synodal process “belongs above all to the local Churches,” which are tasked with translating the synod assembly’s “authoritative proposals” into concrete pastoral practices within their respective contexts. At the same time, the synod office said the guidelines were developed to respond to questions raised by bishops and diocesan leaders in recent months and are intended to support, not replace, local discernment.

Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, acknowledged in his opening remarks of the council’s meeting that “difficulties and resistance” to the synodal process remain. He said that while some dioceses have already begun the implementation phase with enthusiasm, others are awaiting the forthcoming guidelines “with trepidation.”

“These contrary positions must not be overlooked,” he said. “Rather, I would say they must challenge us deeply.”

Cardinal Grech proposed establishing a permanent forum, which he called a “Table of Synodality,” to foster ongoing theological and canonical reflection on synodality and encouraged greater investment in formation programs. He also said that new partnerships with academic institutions and the continued support of young theologians would help cultivate a synodal “mentality” across the church.

Delegates in discussion during the October 2023 session of the Synod on Synodality in Rome.

The study groups were formed at Pope Francis’ request in February 2024 on themes discussed during the first session of the Synod on Synodality which he said would ‘require in-depth study’.

The Vatican’s synod office said the final reports from the Synod on Synodality study groups – including opinions on women deacons and doctrine on sexuality – had been postponed until the end of the year.

The study groups, formed by Pope Francis to examine topics removed from discussions at the second session of the Synod on Synodality held in October 2024, will have until 31 December to submit their final results – a six-month extension of the original mandate of 30 June, according to the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.

In the meantime, the synod leadership will publish brief interim reports from the study groups in July.

A spokesman for the secretariat told CNA that most of the 10 commissions had requested more time to complete their reports following delays due to Pope Francis’ death and the sede vacante period. In June, they received approval from Pope Leo XIV to proceed.

The study commissions are made up of cardinals, bishops, priests, and lay experts from both in and outside of the Vatican.

The study groups were formed at Pope Francis’ request in February 2024 on themes discussed in October 2023 during the first session of the Synod on Synodality. In his letter requesting the study groups, the late Pope said these issues “require in-depth study” for which there would not be time during the second session in 2024.

Francis’ decision effectively moved discussion of the synodal assembly’s most controversial topics from the 200-plus synod participants and to small expert panels.

One of the most anticipated study groups is on ministries in the Church, specifically the question of ordaining women to the diaconate. This group, whose members have not been published, is under the direction of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

According to the secretariat of the Synod last year, this “is the context in which the question on the possible access of women to the diaconate can be appropriately posed”.

Another group was tasked with addressing pastoral approaches to ethical and anthropological topics that were not publicly specified.

The role of the groups is consultative. Pope Leo may use the final reports to make decisions for the Church about the topics addressed.

The synod secretariat, which is responsible for coordinating the work of the study groups, on Monday published the text “Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod”.

The booklet, addressed to diocesan bishops and local synod teams, said Pope Leo has added study groups on two topics – “the liturgy in a synodal perspective” and “the statute of episcopal conferences, ecclesial assemblies, and particular councils” – to the 10.

The document did not say if the two additional study groups will need to produce reports and by when, and a spokesman for the secretariat said he did not think they would be providing reports by the same 31 December deadline.

“It is also the secretariat’s responsibility to ensure that the Pope’s decisions, developed also on the basis of the findings of these groups, will then be harmoniously integrated into the ongoing synodal journey,” the document says.

The document, intended as guidelines for bishops to implement synodality in their dioceses, also outlines what can be expected during the synod’s next phase, which will culminate with a Church assembly in October 2028.

According to synod leaders, the period from June 2025 to December 2026 will be dedicated to “implementation paths” of synodality in local Churches and groupings of Churches.

In 2027, the synod secretariat will organise diocesan-based and then national-based evaluation assemblies before holding continental evaluations in the first part of 2028.

“It is useful to reiterate that evaluation is not a form of judgment or control, rather an opportunity to ask ourselves what point we have reached in the process of implementation and conversion, highlighting the progress made and identifying areas for improvement,” the guiding document says.

Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the synod, wrote in the introduction that “the intention is to ensure that the process moves forward with a deep concern for the unity of the Church”.

The Church at a turning point

It is time the Church recognised there is no justification to continue the ban on women’s ministry

National Catholic Register, Jul 7, 2025 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

With a title like “On Good Soil,” you might expect EWTN’s new series on homesteading to feature a lot of talk about living off the land and learning to farm. What you probably wouldn’t expect is a deep dive into how people in our modern society connect — or don’t connect — and how the teachings of the Catholic Church, including those of St. Thomas Aquinas, can help all of us rethink how we live, even in a big city.

The five-part series airs at 5:30 p.m. ET on Monday, July 7, through Friday, July 11, with an encore at 2:30 a.m. ET the following morning.

Each 30-minute episode explores such questions as: What is the difference between a suburban home and an intentional homestead that may or may not be in a rural setting? Why do many families today feel so disintegrated from society? Most importantly, why do so many of us, who live in a world that encourages us to be constantly on the move, find ourselves longing for community and rootedness?

Episode 5 challenges preconceptions about small-town living. Host Jason Craig says one of the benefits of living off the land is that people don’t just “like” to be around others, they actually “need” one another. Members of the community help each other out, and that creates a connectedness and a rootedness that isn’t often found in modern culture, where people tend to group themselves according to similar interests or social and financial status.

In another episode of this series, a family recounts how they spend more time together on their homestead.

Viewers will also meet Brian and Johanna Burke, whose former military family grew tired of moving every three years, so they relocated to a Catholic community in the country.

“[W]e knew that if we were going to do this, we needed community, and we knew that if we were going to be successful in the long term, not burn out, our kids needed friends who had the same lifestyle as them, and that’s really where the Catholic farm group came in,” Johanna Burke says.

The Burke family says they met a couple at their parish who became their mentors, and they intentionally began to create community by gathering people for monthly get-togethers on neighboring farms. Brian Burke says it’s now common for people to say: “Hey, I’m working on this thing. Does anybody know about this or have experience with this?” Other members may even teach a class on a given subject.

“When you’re really intentional about developing community, you’re also just naturally going to broaden outside of your group,” Johanna explains, adding: “Now we’re looking at connecting the farmers to those in town who are looking to source this food. We’re trying to educate [them] about the superiority of this food. … We can promote interdependence on each other and not worry about supply-chain issues. We have a small, independent grocer downtown. … Local farms provide everything.”

Craig notes that people today talk about plugging into a community, explaining that “a power cord just plugs in to get what it needs. It’s very different from being rooted in a community. Roots penetrate the soil and actually intertwine with other creatures, and they begin to need one another. … The reason Catholics very often want to return to the homestead, therefore, is because they want to … build community. … [H]omesteading can teach you to love a place.”

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 7, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Office for Liturgical Celebrations at the Vatican has announced Pope Leo XIV’s public Mass schedule for August and September, following his current stay through July 20 at Castel Gandolfo, the summer retreat of the pontiffs.

On Aug. 3, Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to celebrate Mass for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time at Tor Vergata University in Rome as part of the Jubilee of Youth.

Although he will be in the Vatican in August, he is also scheduled to celebrate Mass at the pontifical parish of Castel Gandolfo on Friday, Aug. 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to pray the Angelus in the city’s Liberty Square.

On Sunday, Sept. 7, the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, he will celebrate the eagerly awaited Mass for the canonization of Blesseds Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, which will take place in St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m. local time.

A week later, on Sunday, Sept. 14, he will participate in the ecumenical commemoration of the new martyrs, witnesses to the faith, in St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica at 5 p.m. local time.

On Sunday, Sept. 28, he will celebrate the Mass for the Jubilee of Catechists in St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m. local time.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

The opening session of the Synod on Synodality in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall in October 2024 (CNA/Daniel Ibanez)

A new document from the Synod of Bishops released yesterday is intended “to provide an interpretive key” for bishops to implement synodality in their dioceses in the next phase of the Synod, which will culminate in a whole Church assembly in 2028. Source: Vatican News.

The Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod offers “local Churches throughout the world the world a shared framework that will make it easier to walk together” and promotes “the dialogue that will lead the whole Church to the Ecclesial Assembly,” set for October 2028, that will mark the culmination of the synodal process begun by Pope Francis in 2020.

In the document, Cardinal Mario Grech, the Secretary General of the Synod, noted that “the synodal form of the Church is at the service of its mission … it is the urgency of this mission that drives us to implement the Synod, a task for which all the baptised share responsibility.”

He said that the General Secretariat of the Synod, which prepared the new document, is at the service of the local Churches, ready “to listen to them, support their efforts, and, above all, contribute to animating the dialogue and exchange of gifts between the Churches”.

The document begins with an outline of the implementation phase and its objectives, then describes the participants involved, including their tasks and responsibilities.

It also suggests how to engage with the Synod’s Final Document, which serves as the main reference point for this stage of the Synod journey.

Finally, it offers advice on methods and tools that “can help shape our path during the implementation phase.”

“We convey” these pathways, Cardinal Grech said, “to the entire People of God, who are the subjects of the synodal journey, and in particular to the Bishops and Eparchs, to the members of the synodal teams, and to all those who are involved in various ways in the implementation phase.”

The full text of Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod can be found on the website of the Synod on Synodality, www.synod.va.

FULL STORY

Vatican offers new guidance for Synod’s implementation phase (By Christopher Wells, Vatican News)

RELATED COVERAGE

Vatican’s synod office postpones reports on controversial issues (CNA)