by Tom Magill

The Instrumentum Laboris (IL), the working document for the second session of the Synod on Synodality which takes place in Rome in October, was published on 9th July. It is the fruit of a global consultation launched at the end of last year in the document Towards October 2024.

In it, the General Secretariat of the Synod invited all the faithful to reflect further on the question How to be a Synodal Church in Mission, particularly in light of the Synthesis Report of the first session. The purpose was ‘to identify the paths we can follow and the tools we might adopt in our different contexts and circumstances in order to enhance the unique contribution of each baptised person and of each Church in the one mission of proclaiming the Risen Lord and his Gospel to the world today’ (IL iii).

The response was deep and broad. There were 108 reports from Bishops’ Conferences, eight from Oriental Catholic Churches, 200 from international bodies, universities and lay associations, as well as reports from Major Religious Superiors, the Roman Curia, the international meeting of parish priests, and five groups set up by the Secretariat for specific theological reflection.

The working document was written by a group of theologians, lay and ordained, from different continents, together with members and consultants of the Secretariat. An initial draft was sent out to 70 people representing the universal Church for comment and evaluation. From this process the present document emerged. In this way and in the synodal spirit, it is marked by the circularity of dialogue between the local and universal Church.

Topped and tailed by and introduction and conclusion, the document has four main sections: Foundations, Relations, Paths, and Places. The structure reflects what the group considered the central question: ‘how can the identity of the synodal People of God in mission take concrete form in the relationships, paths and places where the everyday life of the Church takes place?’ (IL vii) The introduction makes clear that the marks of a synodal Church must reflect concrete realities, embodied experiences of relationships, paths, and places and not be drawn from some abstract universalism or theoretical construct. The introduction also makes reference to the on-going work of the ten study groups reflecting on ten major themes of the first Synthesis Report which will report to the Pope by June 2025.

Fr Tom Magill is a retired priest of the Diocese of Motherwell.

Photo of participants at the Open House conference on synodality by Dominic Cullen.