A Council by Another Name?: The Synod on Synodality and What Comes Next
The ongoing synodal process of the Catholic Church engages a new vision of being church within human history and society.
 
At the European synod of bishops in 1999, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini called for a new ecumenical council. Too wise to use this term explicitly, he said that he hoped for “an experience of universal confrontation between bishops at the dawning of the new century.” Unresolved questions demanded sound answers: a lack of ordained ministers, the role of women in the church, the participation of the laity, new challenges regarding sexuality and marriage, ecumenism, and more. Since then, even more questions have been raised regarding the sexual abuse crisis, the experience of widespread discouragement, and polarization within the church.
 
In A Council by Another Name? world-renowned French theologian Christoph Theobald explains why synodality is a constitutive dimension of the church and urges readers, especially ecclesial leaders, to trust the synodal process and to engage in it in their rightful place. Based on conversion that is both personal and institutional, Theobald cites Pope Francis’s call for cooperation and creativity as an essential element for confronting the current difficulties effectively, approaching the future peacefully, and welcoming a new and decisive vision of the church within human history and society.

This is a revised and expanded edition of the second French edition.    

1147208368
A Council by Another Name?: The Synod on Synodality and What Comes Next
The ongoing synodal process of the Catholic Church engages a new vision of being church within human history and society.
 
At the European synod of bishops in 1999, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini called for a new ecumenical council. Too wise to use this term explicitly, he said that he hoped for “an experience of universal confrontation between bishops at the dawning of the new century.” Unresolved questions demanded sound answers: a lack of ordained ministers, the role of women in the church, the participation of the laity, new challenges regarding sexuality and marriage, ecumenism, and more. Since then, even more questions have been raised regarding the sexual abuse crisis, the experience of widespread discouragement, and polarization within the church.
 
In A Council by Another Name? world-renowned French theologian Christoph Theobald explains why synodality is a constitutive dimension of the church and urges readers, especially ecclesial leaders, to trust the synodal process and to engage in it in their rightful place. Based on conversion that is both personal and institutional, Theobald cites Pope Francis’s call for cooperation and creativity as an essential element for confronting the current difficulties effectively, approaching the future peacefully, and welcoming a new and decisive vision of the church within human history and society.

This is a revised and expanded edition of the second French edition.    

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A Council by Another Name?: The Synod on Synodality and What Comes Next

A Council by Another Name?: The Synod on Synodality and What Comes Next

by Christoph Theobald
A Council by Another Name?: The Synod on Synodality and What Comes Next

A Council by Another Name?: The Synod on Synodality and What Comes Next

by Christoph Theobald

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Overview

The ongoing synodal process of the Catholic Church engages a new vision of being church within human history and society.
 
At the European synod of bishops in 1999, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini called for a new ecumenical council. Too wise to use this term explicitly, he said that he hoped for “an experience of universal confrontation between bishops at the dawning of the new century.” Unresolved questions demanded sound answers: a lack of ordained ministers, the role of women in the church, the participation of the laity, new challenges regarding sexuality and marriage, ecumenism, and more. Since then, even more questions have been raised regarding the sexual abuse crisis, the experience of widespread discouragement, and polarization within the church.
 
In A Council by Another Name? world-renowned French theologian Christoph Theobald explains why synodality is a constitutive dimension of the church and urges readers, especially ecclesial leaders, to trust the synodal process and to engage in it in their rightful place. Based on conversion that is both personal and institutional, Theobald cites Pope Francis’s call for cooperation and creativity as an essential element for confronting the current difficulties effectively, approaching the future peacefully, and welcoming a new and decisive vision of the church within human history and society.

This is a revised and expanded edition of the second French edition.    


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780814689714
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Publication date: 08/22/2025
Pages: 234
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Christoph Theobald, SJ, is a Franco-German Jesuit theologian. He is a professor emeritus of the Centre Sèvres, the Jesuit theological faculty in Paris, and the former editor in chief of the journal Recherches de science religieuse. He has published numerous books on theology and pastoral ministry.

Table of Contents

Contents
Preface to the Third Edition   ix
Introduction   1
Chapter 1
     Reading the Scriptures Together and Learning to Journey Together Again   7
Chapter 2
     Synodality—A Constitutive Dimension of the Church?   19
Chapter 3
     From Celebrating Exceptional Events to Learning New Ways of Listening to Each Other and Making Decisions   43
Chapter 4
     A Path of Spiritual and Institutional Conversion   93
Chapter 5
     The First Session: A Progress Report on an Open Project   117
Chapter 6
     The Second Session: Final Work and the Beginning of the Reception   139
Chapter 7
     A Synod on the Holy Spirit: A New Vision of the Church in History and Society Takes Shape   187
Conclusion: And Now?   211
Index   215

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