2024 Synod

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Pope Francis meets with other delegates of the Synod on Synodality at a roundtable discussion in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Oct. 17, 2024.

Live updates: The Synod on Synodality debates the Catholic Church’s future

Oct 23, 2024

By CNA Staff

Follow EWTN News’ live coverage of the 2024 Synod on Synodality at the Vatican. Get real-time updates, expert analysis, and... Read more

Congolese Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Cameroon, and Cardinal Edouard Sinayobye of Rwanda talk with journalists at Synod on Synodality press briefings in October 2024.

African bishops speak: How has the Synod on Synodality impacted the Church in Africa?

Oct 22, 2024

By Kristina Millare

How has the Synod on Synodality impacted the Catholic Church in Africa? And, in turn, how has the Church in... Read more

“Rushing to ask for the ordination of deaconesses is not today the most important response to promote women,” Cardinal Víctor Fernández, the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said Oct. 21, 2024.

Fernández: Diaconate ‘is not today’ the answer for promoting women in Church leadership

Oct 21, 2024

By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú

Cardinal Víctor Fernández at a speech at the general congregation on Oct. 21 recalled that for the Holy Father the... Read more

More than 30 students — most of whom were from the U.S. — from over 10 universities attended “The University Students in Dialogue with Synod Leaders,” an Oct. 18, 2024, event organized by the General Secretariat of the Synod held in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall.

Synod delegates urge young Catholics to learn how to listen to others in a polarized world

Oct 19, 2024

By Kristina Millare

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich drew attention to the upcoming Nov. 5 U.S. elections and stressed the importance of seeing the person... Read more

Delegates at the 2024 Synod on Synodality participate in roundtable meetings on Oct. 10, 2024, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican.

Here’s what’s happening during the last week of the Synod on Synodality

Oct 19, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

The focus going forward will be the writing and editing of the Synod on Synodality’s final document. Read more

Pope Francis meets with other delegates of the Synod on Synodality at a roundtable discussion in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Oct. 17, 2024.

Analysis: Is the Synod on Synodality’s focus on the local Churches a Trojan horse?

Oct 18, 2024

By Andrea Gagliarducci

One gets the impression that many Synod on Synodality participants view the subject of local Churches as a kind of... Read more

The Vatican held four different public conferences from Oct. 9 and 16, 2024, in Rome to explain the “theological undertone of the synodal process,” according to a conference moderator and expert at this month’s Synod on Synodality. 

Why did the Synod on Synodality hold extra theological meetings in 2024?

Oct 18, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

At the forums, speakers drew heavily on the Church’s dogmatic constitution from Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, in their defenses of... Read more

Cardinal Leonardo Steiner is archbishop of Manaus, Brazil.

Cardinal from Amazon: ‘Many of our women are true deaconesses’

Oct 17, 2024

By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú

Cardinal Leonardo Steiner, the archbishop of Manaus in Brazil who is participating in the Synod on Synodality, said that “many... Read more

Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher, OP, speaks to EWTN News in Rome on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024.

Australian archbishop: Synod on Synodality cannot ‘reinvent the Catholic faith’

Oct 16, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

“It's the one Church, it’s the one faith, and we want to keep celebrating that even amidst our cultural diversity,”... Read more

Young people lead a procession in Protomartyrs Square at the Vatican for an ecumenical prayer service on Oct. 11, 2024.

PHOTOS: Pope Francis, synod pray where first Christian martyrs of Rome were killed

Oct 11, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

The ecumenical prayer vigil Oct. 11 was held in Roman Protomartyrs Square inside Vatican City. Read more

Delegates at the 2024 Synod on Synodality participate in roundtable meetings on Oct. 10, 2024, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican.

Analysis: A Chinese bishop takes the floor for the first time at the Synod on Synodality

Oct 11, 2024

By Andrea Gagliarducci

There has been one noteworthy development so far in the Synod on Synodality’s second week — and it’s not the... Read more

Brazilian Archbishop Jaime Spengler, OFM, speaks at a Synod on Synodality briefing on Oct. 8, 2024, at the Vatican.

Pope Francis’ Brazilian pick for cardinal urges openness to ordaining married priests in region

Oct 10, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

Archbishop Jaime Spengler again indicated he is open to ordaining married men, so-called “viri probati,” to serve as priests —... Read more

Pope Francis during the weekly general audience at St. Peter's Square on Oct. 9, 2024.

Pope: ‘Prohibitions of the Spirit’ ensure Church unity is not driven by personal viewpoints

Oct 9, 2024

By Kristina Millare

Continuing his catechesis on the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Church, the pope emphasized that unity cannot be... Read more

Delegates attend a session of the 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops at the Paul VI Hall on Oct. 5, 2024, in Vatican City.

Women deacons off the table? Synod delegate claims ‘some women sense a call to priesthood’

Oct 7, 2024

By Courtney Mares

“I think we have to look at the question very much from … the Spirit. ‘Is the Spirit calling women?’”... Read more

The Maronite Catholic eparch of Batroun, Bishop Mounir Khairallah, attends a Synod on Synodality press conference on Oct. 5, 2024, at the Vatican.

Lebanese bishop makes impassioned plea for peace at synod briefing

Oct 5, 2024

By CNA Staff

Bishop Mounir Khairallah of Batroun shared his personal experience of violence and forgiveness, recounting how his parents were murdered when... Read more

Pope Francis views a historic relic of the chair of St. Peter on Oct. 2, 2024.

What’s behind the viral photo of Pope Francis venerating a chair?

Oct 4, 2024

By Madalaine Elhabbal

CNA explains what was behind the viral photo of Pope Francis sitting before an ancient wooden chair during the first... Read more

Closing the first week of meetings, Synod on Synodality participants from different continents put a spotlight on the plight of the world’s poor and vulnerable at a press briefing held in the Vatican on Oct. 4, 2024, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. 

Synod participants put spotlight on world’s poor and vulnerable on feast of St. Francis

Oct 4, 2024

By Kristina Millare

Closing the first week of meetings, Synod on Synodality participants from different continents put a spotlight on the plight of... Read more

On the first working day of the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican on Oct. 2, 2024, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, shut down speculation regarding further theological study into the possibility of women being ordained as deacons.

Synod rules out women deacons; meetings called to be ‘laboratories of synodal life’

Oct 3, 2024

By Kristina Millare

The Synod on Synodality commenced its second day on Thursday in which 356 participants convened at the Vatican. Read more

Pope Francis makes the sign of the cross as he opens the second assembly of the Synod on Synodality with a Mass on Oct. 2, 2024, in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis opens Synod on Synodality assembly with warning against personal ‘agendas’

Oct 2, 2024

By Courtney Mares

The second session of the 16th Ordinary Synod of Bishops, running from Oct. 2–27, marks a critical phase in the... Read more

Pope Francis greets the crowd at the end of a Mass for the opening of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in St Peter's Square.

Pope Francis calls for global day of prayer, fasting amid escalating conflict in Holy Land

Oct 2, 2024

By Courtney Mares

The pope’s surprise announcement comes the morning after Iran launched hundreds of missiles toward Israel. Read more