The Synod of Bishops is a religious assembly of bishops from around the world who meet in Rome to discuss issues vital to the Roman Catholic Church and to act as an advisory body to the Pope. The word synod means “gathering together.” It comes from Ancient Greek and is a combination of the word ‘together’ and ‘way’ or ‘away’.
Pope Francis announced on Wednesday that women and lay people will be able to vote for the first time at an upcoming synod. As a result, half of the 70 voting non-episcopal members will be women and five nuns will also have the right to vote. The share of female voters in general will be just over 10 percent.
Popes periodically convene synods on specific topics such as vocation, youth or the family. Preparation for such events takes years, as Church leaders consult and listen to their local communities before the selected bishops travel to the Vatican to gather around the Pope, who ultimately decides on any possible changes to the Church’s discipline or governance.
The Vatican has described synods as opportunities for bishops “to associate and exchange information and experience, in the common pursuit of pastoral solutions that have universal validity and application”.
The Church has held meetings of leaders for centuries, but the Synod of Bishops is a holdover from the Second Vatican Council, which was convened in the 1960s and led the Church into a more modern age.
The forthcoming synod, the 16th since the 1960s, has the general title “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission” and will take place in October after a two-year deliberative process.
Scholars say this meeting is crucial to the future of the church. Rather than focusing on single issues such as the family or youth as in the recent past, this synod is expected to address divisive issues such as the role of women in the Church and LGBTQ relationships.
“The Church we must dream and build is a community of women and men brought together in communion by the one faith, our common Baptism and the same Eucharist,” Cardinal Mario Grech, the synod’s secretary general, wrote in a description of the purpose of the next meeting.