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,...