Vatican City: The General Secretariat of the Synod has released a landmark document titled “Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod”, providing fresh guidance for the global Church as it enters the next stage of the Synod on Synodality, which began in 2020 and is set to conclude with a global Ecclesial Assembly in October 2028.
This document serves as a roadmap for local Churches worldwide, offering a unified interpretive lens through which the implementation of the Synod’s vision can be better understood and enacted. According to the Secretariat, the text is designed to facilitate deeper communion and encourage consistent synodal practices throughout the Church.
In the introduction to the document, Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod, emphasizes that synodality is not a mere strategy, but the very form through which the Church lives out its mission.
“The synodal form of the Church is at the service of its mission,” Cardinal Grech writes. “The urgency of this mission drives us to implement the Synod. This is a responsibility shared by all the baptized.”
He also reiterated that the Secretariat remains committed to supporting local Churches by listening, encouraging collaboration, and animating the ongoing dialogue that is at the heart of the synodal journey.
The Pathways document is structured to provide clear direction during the implementation phase. It begins by outlining the goals of this new stage and defines the roles of key participants, including bishops, eparchs, synodal teams, and lay faithful.
It also offers guidance on how to engage with the Final Document of the Synod, which now serves as the principal reference text. Furthermore, the document introduces practical tools and methods that dioceses and parishes can use to embed synodal values listening, discernment, participation, and co-responsibility into their regular pastoral life.
Cardinal Grech makes it clear that this phase is not just for Church leaders. The implementation of the Synod’s findings, he writes, is entrusted to the “entire People of God”. Every Catholic—clergy, religious, and laity has a vital part to play in making the Church a community that truly walks together in faith.
“We convey these pathways to bishops and eparchs, synodal teams, and to all those actively participating in this process,” the Cardinal notes, “so they may feel our support and continue the dialogue that has been the soul of the synodal journey.”
The release of Pathways marks a decisive shift from reflection to implementation. While the listening sessions, reports, and consultations of the earlier phases laid the groundwork, this new chapter is about translating insights into action not through top-down mandates, but through collective discernment and local engagement.
With the 2028 Ecclesial Assembly now in sight, this document will serve as a compass for communities worldwide, helping ensure that the vision of a synodal Church becomes a lived reality.
The Vatican hopes that Pathways will ignite renewed pastoral creativity and spiritual vitality in every corner of the Church, as the faithful continue walking together on the road of synodality.