From the hospital Pope Francis approves the synod accompaniment process until 2028

Pope Francis approved, on March 11 and from the Gemelli Hospital where he is hospitalized, the process of accompaniment and evaluation of the synod Synod implementation phase, which will conclude in October 2028 with an “ecclesial assembly” in the Vatican.

The Synod of Sinodality is a process convened in the Catholic Church by Pope Francis in 2021 and that in October 2024 had its second global stage in the Vatican. His theme is: “For a synodal church: communion, participation and mission.”

The Press Office of Vatican He published, this Saturday, March 15, the letter that Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod, sent all the bishops of the world to announce the beginning of the accompaniment process.

“For the moment, therefore, a new synod is not called, opting in its place for a process of consolidating the road already traveled,” says the text, which also specifies that “at the end of May, we will send to the further communications with more details about ‘the methodology and operational modalities of the itinerary'”.

The text emphasizes that Pope Francis expects this process to “receive special attention, so that the synodality will be increasingly understood and lived as an essential dimension of the ordinary life of the local churches and the whole church.”

“The synod application phase must be understood not as a mere ‘application’ of directives coming from above, but rather as a process of ‘reception’ of the orientations expressed by the final document properly to the local cultures and needs of the communities,” says Cardinal Grech in his letter.

The final document of the Synod of Sinodality is the result of the process that began in 2021 and that had two meetings in the Vatican: the first in 2023 and the second in 2024.

The text contains a series of proposals that will mark the future of the Church. It was approved by Pope Francis, who said that he adopted the entire document and, changing an ecclesial tradition, said he would not publish an apostolic exhortation, so the text is already considered part of the magisterium of the Catholic Church.

Today’s letter of Cardinal Grech also explains that the accompaniment process is “the framework of application of the Synod’s orientations, in particular the results of the work of the study groups and the contributions of the Canon Law Commission.”

In this process, the synodal teams of the dioceses, which must be formed where they are not yet present, and that can participate in their jubilee from October 24 to 26, 2025.

Itinerary of the process announced today by the Vatican

March 2025: Announcement of the accompaniment and evaluation process.

May 2025: Publication of the support document for the implementation phase with the indications for its implementation.

June 2025 – December 2026: implementation itineraries in local churches and their groups.

October 24-26, 2025: Jubilee of synod teams and participation bodies.

First semester of 2027: Assembly assemblies in the dioceses and Eparquia (diocese of the Eastern Churches).

Second semester of 2027: Assembly assemblies in national and international episcopal conferences, in eastern hierarchical structures and in other ecclesial groups.

First semester of 2028: Continental Assessment Assemblies.

June 2028: Publication of the Tool employment (Working document) For the works of the Ecclesial Assembly of October 2028.

October 2028: Celebration of the Ecclesial Assembly in the Vatican.