Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has often expressed the desire for a more “synodal” style of Church life, and commentators on Catholic affairs now increasingly speak of “synodality”. What do they mean?
It is often suggested that “synodality” refers to the Church’s experience of journeying together. The verb syn-odeuō does indeed mean to “journey together”. But the noun synodos, in both classical and Christian Greek, denotes an assembly convened to make a decision. It is the purpose of the “coming together”, and not the journeying process itself, which is the key to its meaning.
