Synod On Synodality

Pope Leo XIV will ask the world’s cardinals to discuss war, peace and the future of the Synod on Synodality at an Extraordinary Consistory on 26 and 27 June. The agenda includes the international situation and Magnifica Humanitas, but makes no provision for discussion of the liturgy Pope Leo has decided not to include the liturgy in the agenda for the upcoming June consistory. The pontiff will instead ask the world’s cardinals to discuss war, peace and the future of the Synod on Synodality when they gather in Rome later this month for an Extraordinary Consistory. Details of the agenda emerged after a letter sent to cardinals by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, was published by the Italian blog Messa in Latino. According to Diane Montagna, the meeting, which will take place on 26 and 27 June, will focus on the international situation, Pope Leo’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and the implementation of the Synod on Synodality. Cardinal Re said the gathering was intended to provide “a space for mutual listening, discernment, and shared reflection on certain matters of importance for the life and mission of the Church at the present time”. He wrote that Pope Leo wished “to draw upon the experience and counsel of the members of the College of Cardinals” and to count on “the active assistance and support of each one in the various places and responsibilities in which he serves the Church”. The first session will be dedicated to the situation facing the Church and the world. Cardinals will be invited to reflect on “what sufferings, tensions, and questions are today affecting with greatest force the peoples and ecclesial communities entrusted to your care” and to identify “signs of hope, fidelity to the Gospel and possible reconciliation” that should be brought before the College and the Pope. Two sessions will then be devoted to Magnifica Humanitas , Pope Leo’s first encyclical. One discussion will centre on Chapter Five of the document, titled The Culture of Power and the Civilisation of Love , with particular attention given to questions of war and peace. Cardinal Re noted that the encyclical teaches that “peace is not simply one issue among others, but a prerequisite for the universal common good and a test of the moral maturity of peoples”. The cardinals will be asked to consider how best to reaffirm the encyclical’s assertion “that the ‘just war’ theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated”, and to discuss “what concrete paths might help peoples and Christian communities to safeguard and build peace”. A further session will examine the encyclical’s call to interpret contemporary social and cultural changes in the light of the Gospel and to direct the search for happiness and fulfilment towards what the document describes as integral human development. The final working session will focus on the next stage of the Synod on Synodality, the worldwide consultation process launched under Pope Francis. Cardinals will receive an update on preparations for the assemblies planned for 2027 and 2028 following the publication of the document Toward the Assemblies 2027–2028: Stages, Criteria, and Tools for Preparation . The update will be followed by a period of open discussion with Pope Leo. According to Cardinal Re’s letter, interventions from members of the College will be limited to three minutes each. The consistory will conclude on 29 June, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, when Pope Leo celebrates Mass in St Peter’s Basilica and imposes the pallium on newly appointed metropolitan archbishops.

The Vatican has confirmed that dioceses across the world will spend the next two years preparing for a major “Ecclesial Assembly” in Rome in 2028 as part of the next phase of the Synod on Synodality The Vatican has unveiled a detailed timetable for the next phase of the Synod on Synodality, confirming that dioceses across the world will spend the next two years preparing for a major ecclesial assembly in Rome in October 2028. Entitled Towards the Assemblies 2027-2028 , the text presents the next stage of synodality. The process will culminate in what the Vatican is calling an “Ecclesial Assembly”, distinct from a Synod of Bishops but intended to gather representatives from across the global Church for a final act of discernment in Rome. The document, published on May 20 by the General Secretariat of the Synod, sets out the “stages, criteria, and tools for preparation” that will guide local Churches through what Rome describes as the “implementation phase” of the synodal process launched by Pope Francis in 2021. Under the plan, dioceses, bishops’ conferences and continental episcopal bodies will each hold assemblies between 2027 and 2028 aimed at assessing how the Synod’s final document is being put into practice. The Vatican said the process would culminate in an Ecclesial Assembly in Rome “together with the Holy Father”. The text divides the process into four stages titled “Recollecting”, “Interpreting”, “Orienting” and “Celebrating”. The first phase, scheduled for the first half of 2027, will involve diocesan and eparchial assemblies intended to evaluate the reception of the Synod’s final document at local level. Bishops will oversee the preparation of narrative reports describing “what concrete form of a missionary synodal Church and what new paths of synodality are emerging” within their communities. Dioceses will also prepare letters addressed to other Churches highlighting what the Vatican described as “the principal fruits that have emerged in the process of implementing the synod”. National and regional bishops’ conferences will then gather during the second half of 2027 to prepare theological-pastoral reports before continental assemblies take place during the opening months of 2028. Those continental meetings will produce “perspective reports” that will contribute to the drafting of the instrumentum laboris , or working document, for the Rome assembly. The final stage will take place in October 2028 at the Vatican. Although officials have repeatedly insisted the gathering will not constitute another Synod of Bishops, the new document states that the assembly’s conclusions will be “offered to the Holy Father as the fruit of the process of discernment”. The text places strong emphasis on papal oversight throughout the process, concluding that the entire journey will take place “under the guidance of the Holy Father”. The publication provides the clearest indication yet that Pope Leo XIV intends to continue the synodal project initiated by his predecessor. Since his election, the Pope has repeatedly referred to synodality as a defining characteristic of ecclesial life, describing it as “a style of cooperation” and an exercise in listening. The Vatican stressed that the implementation phase was not intended to reopen the consultation process that began in 2021, but rather to assess what has already been achieved since the Synod’s conclusion. “It is not a matter of repeating the Synod consultation, nor of adding further tasks to the ordinary life of communities,” the document states, “but rather of rereading what has already been experienced, recognizing its fruits and difficulties.” Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod, said the assemblies were intended to be “a profound ecclesial and spiritual experience of discernment”. “What we are proposing to the local Churches is not an additional task, but rather a time of shared discernment and thanksgiving, in which to reread together what the Spirit is causing to grow in the Church and to recognize the steps we are called to take,” His Eminence said. The document also calls for broad participation within the assemblies themselves. It says organisers should ensure “balance between men and women and among different generations”, while also involving priests, deacons, Religious, members of ecclesial movements and “persons living in situations of fragility or marginality”. It adds that “particular care should be devoted to the involvement of parish priests”. Representatives of other Christian communities and religions may also take part “where appropriate”. Responsibility for organising the assemblies will rest with diocesan bishops at local level, presidents of bishops’ conferences nationally, and the heads of continental ecclesial bodies at regional level. The Vatican further encouraged organisers to continue using “conversation in the Spirit”, the discussion method strongly promoted during the Synod assemblies in Rome in 2023 and 2024. The implementation phase formally began after the late Pope Francis approved the Synod’s final document last year and handed it directly to the Church without issuing a separate post-synodal apostolic exhortation. Before his death, Francis repeatedly described synodality as irreversible and insisted the process marked a new way of governing and listening within the Church. Materials produced during each stage will be submitted to the Synod Secretariat according to a fixed timetable. Diocesan reports must be completed by June 30, 2027, bishops’ conference reports by December 31, 2027, and continental reports by April 30, 2028 ahead of the final assembly in Rome.

Cardinal Mario Grech has addressed the Synodal Path and the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality during a discussion at the Katholikentag in Germany Cardinal Mario Grech has said that Germany’s Synodal Path and the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality are guided by “the same protagonist: the Holy Spirit”. Speaking at the Katholikentag on May 17, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops rejected the idea that synodality was rooted in parliamentary manoeuvring or majority rule, insisting instead that it was a process of discernment guided by the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit does not create a sum of opinions, but harmony, a symphony,” Cardinal Grech said, according to Katholisch.de. His Eminence said synodality should be understood as a “symphony of communion” and stressed the relationship between local Churches and the universal Church. “There is neither a universal Church without local Churches nor a local Church without the universal Church,” His Eminence said. According to Katholisch.de, the remarks came during a public discussion in which theology student Finja Miriam Weber, a member of the German Synodal Assembly, questioned Cardinal Grech’s comparison of the Church to a symphony orchestra. Weber asked who decides “who is allowed to play which instrument”, adding that women are barred from certain positions in the Church “simply because she is female”. Cardinal Grech replied: “Jesus composes the symphony and the Holy Spirit conducts.” According to reports from the event, the exchange was cut short when the moderator ended the discussion before it could continue further. Katholisch.de later reported that Cardinal Grech approached Weber afterwards and told her: “We need people like you.” The intervention is likely to attract attention because Cardinal Grech became one of the leading figures behind the late Pope Francis’s push for synodality. The Maltese prelate was appointed Pro-Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops by Pope Francis in October 2019, succeeding Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri the following year. During that period, Cardinal Grech participated in the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region and served on the commission responsible for drafting the synod’s final document. In one of his first interviews after his appointment, Cardinal Grech spoke of a Church developing “a greater feminine face that would also mirror Mary’s face”. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the cardinal also drew controversy after criticising what he described as an overreliance on sacramental life among Catholics unable to attend Mass during lockdown restrictions. “It is of concern that someone feels lost outside of the Eucharistic or worship context, for it shows an ignorance of other ways of engaging with the mystery,” Cardinal Grech said at the time. Pope Francis created Cardinal Grech a cardinal in November 2020, assigning him the Roman deaconry of Santi Cosma e Damiano. He has since been appointed to a number of Vatican bodies, including the Dicastery for Bishops and the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. In recent years Cardinal Grech has repeatedly defended synodality as a model for the future life of the Church. In a 2024 interview, His Eminence said synodality could help the Church move from “uniformity of thought” towards “unity in difference”.

Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk has issued one of the strongest episcopal critiques yet of the Synod on Synodality Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk has issued one of the strongest episcopal interventions yet against the Synod on Synodality’s treatment of moral theology. The Dutch Cardinal has warned that the final report of Study Group 9 risks undermining settled Catholic teaching on sexuality and the nature of moral truth itself. Writing in the National Catholic Register , Cardinal Eijk said the report “fundamentally contradicts Catholic moral teaching and thoroughly undermines its application to moral conduct”, adding that the document “must be forcefully refuted”. The report at the centre of the controversy, entitled Theological Criteria and Synod Methodologies for Shared Discernment of Emerging Doctrinal, Pastoral, and Ethical Issues , was produced by one of 10 study groups established by Pope Francis in February 2024 after the Synod assemblies concluded that insufficient time remained to address several contentious themes before the final Vatican gathering later that year. Study Group 9 had been tasked with examining doctrinal and ethical questions initially described as “controversial”. The report later explained that the phrase had been replaced with “emerging issues” as part of what it called an “authentic paradigm shift” inspired by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Particular controversy has surrounded the inclusion of testimonies from two men in same-sex “civil marriages”. One contributor from Portugal described building “a life of shared faith and service with my husband”, while another American witness wrote that his sexuality “isn’t a perversion, disorder, or cross; it’s a gift from God. I have a happy, healthy marriage and am flourishing as an openly gay Catholic”. The report stated that one testimony “bears witness to the discovery that sin, at its root, does not consist in the (same-sex) couple relationship, but in a lack of faith in a God who desires our fulfilment”. Cardinal Eijk said the authors reproduced the statement “without correction or clarification”. “Homosexual acts are intrinsically evil – this is settled Catholic doctrine,” Cardinal Eijk wrote. “A believing Christian who engages in such acts certainly falls short in faith, insofar as he fails to trust in God’s grace, which enables him to avoid sin. But this does not mean the sin lies primarily in lack of faith rather than in the act itself, as the witness suggests.” His Eminence also criticised the report’s treatment of Courage International, the apostolate founded in New York in 1980 to help Catholics with same-sex attraction live according to Church teaching. The American testimony portrayed Courage negatively, suggesting that it “separates faith and sexuality” and associated it with conversion therapy. Cardinal Eijk argued that by presenting such testimonies without doctrinal response, the report effectively normalised homosexual relationships within a Church context. “This represents a clear attempt to weaken the proclamation of Catholic moral teaching,” Cardinal Eijk said. Much of Cardinal Eijk’s criticism focused not only on sexuality but on the report’s wider theological method. The study group rejected what it described as the “abstractly proclaiming and deductively applying principles that are set out in an immutable and rigid manner”, instead advocating what it termed a “fruitful tension” between doctrine and lived experience. The report also insisted that discernment should avoid “a problem-solving perspective” and should not presume “to deduce action from the simple application of norms”. Instead, local Churches were encouraged to prioritise listening and dialogue rather than “pre-packaged” doctrinal solutions. Cardinal Eijk said such language concealed “a radical departure from Catholic moral theology”. Referring to the report’s use of Christ’s words that “the Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath”, His Eminence wrote: “This is a fundamental misreading of Scripture.” Cardinal Eijk argued that the report confused changeable ritual law with the permanent moral law rooted in creation. “The moral law concerning marriage and sexuality is of an entirely different character,” Cardinal Eijk wrote. “These norms flow from the natural law, which reflects God’s purposes in creating human beings, marriage and sexuality itself.” His Eminence then restated traditional Catholic teaching on marriage in classical terms, writing that “sexual differentiation and openness to life are essential elements” of marriage as a “mutual total self-giving between a man and a woman”. Cardinal Eijk added that “sexual acts between persons of the same sex cannot constitute such a total gift because they are closed to the transmission of life by their very nature”. Study Group 9 repeatedly insisted that its aim was not to produce “generalisable solutions” but to initiate “processes in the form of listening”. The report argued that moral understanding should emerge gradually through dialogue across cultures and local Churches rather than through the direct application of universal norms. For Cardinal Eijk, that approach strikes at the heart of Catholic moral teaching. “The Church’s teaching is not obscure, nor is it subject to revision through synodal processes,” Cardinal Eijk wrote. “It is the truth that sets us free.” His Eminence concluded by stating that “a number of cardinals and bishops will make their objections known to the Roman Magisterium.”

Bishop Peter Dai Bui of Phoenix has sharply criticised The Trojan Horse in the Catholic Church, a book backed by Cardinal Gerhard Müller which argues that the Synod on Synodality seeks to undermine the Church’s hierarchical structure Bishop Peter Dai Bui, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix, has written a scathing criticism of the book The Trojan Horse in the Catholic Church , published by the lay group Catholics for Catholics (CforC). The Trojan Horse in the Catholic Church is written under the pseudonym “Father Enoch” by a priest-author, with Cardinal Gerhard Müller writing the foreword. The book, written in the form of a two-part essay entitled “Replacing the Hierarchical Structure of the Church” and “Overturning the Moral Order”, seeks to explain how the Synod on Synodality is intended to undermine the governing hierarchy of the Church. In the book, Fr Enoch writes that “the first goal of the Synod is to invert the hierarchical structure of the Church as instituted by her Founder and our Saviour, Jesus Christ” because it “undercuts the authority or sacred power with which He endowed the Apostles and their successors in office, the bishops: to teach, to govern, and to sanctify”. Fr Enoch argues that this attempt to overturn the hierarchy of the Church found its roots in the pontificate of Pope Francis. He writes that during the Francis era it appeared that “nothing had changed in the Vatican”, while in fact “a quiet revolution had been taking place”. Fr Enoch argues that this revolution originated in the 2014 Synod on the Family and the subsequent 2016 Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia , reaching a crescendo in the 2023 Synod on Synodality. Fr Enoch takes issue with the term “synodality”, quoting Cardinal Burke saying that it has “no history in the doctrine of the Church and for which there is no reasonable definition”. He also argues that “the hierarchical structure of the early Church [was] deeply embedded already in the early second century”, making its removal contrary to Christianity. The second part of the book focuses on the “homosexual agenda”, particularly Amoris Laetitia , Fiducia Supplicans and various actions taken by the German Synodal Way. The essay is a damning assessment of the pontificate of Pope Francis, portraying much of it as a “push for the homosexualist agenda”. In his response, Bishop Peter Dai Bui argues that synodality is “as old as Emmaus, as old as the Council of Jerusalem, where the apostles and the whole community gathered to discern together and wrote”. He specifically uses the example of Emmaus as an illustration of synodality, where the two disciples were “trying to make sense of a catastrophe they could not yet name”. Bishop Dai Bui defends synodality as not being a challenge to the deposit of faith, which “cannot be subject to revision by any synod, any council, or any pope”, but rather as the Church asking itself how to “walk with human beings whose lives are complicated, wounded and often far from the fullness of what the Church proclaims?” On Catholics for Catholics specifically, the article claims that it is “not a theological institute and it holds no magisterial standing”. It also argues that Cardinal Müller’s reflections are “contested by others who were present in the same room”. Responding to the criticism, Catholics for Catholics pointed to what it described as the contradiction of a bishop criticising the opinions of a lay group while defending synodality as an exercise in listening to the laity. John Yep, president of Catholics for Catholics, stated: “Why is the bishop reprimanding us as lay Catholics trying to defend the Faith?” He also pointed out that while Catholics for Catholics is not a theological institute, “the former head of the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, as well as its very accomplished author, would most definitely qualify as theologians who carry weight.” Referencing the bishop’s use of the story of Emmaus, Yep commented: “If Jesus Christ would have received that ‘Synod Report’ [the final report of Study Group 9, which addressed homosexual behaviour] on the road to Emmaus, he would have said the same thing – or worse – than what he told the two disciples when they erred in their understanding. ‘O Stulti!’, Christ said, which literally means ‘O stupid or foolish ones.’ I wonder if Christ would say the same thing today to any bishop promoting this new ‘synodal Church.’” Catholics for Catholics, with the assistance of its supporters, has been able to send a copy of The Trojan Horse in the Catholic Church to every bishop in the United States and to more than a quarter of the country’s priestly population. Yep argued that Bishop Bui’s attempt to discredit the book had resulted in greater support, adding: “For that, we are grateful.” Bishop Peter Dai Bui was appointed auxiliary bishop of Phoenix by Pope Leo XIV in December 2025 and received episcopal consecration the following February. A native of Vietnam, his family fled the country after the war and arrived in the United States when he was a child. He was ordained a priest in 2003 and was initially a member of the Legionaries of Christ. He later left the congregation and was incardinated into the Diocese of Phoenix in 2009.

New Vatican synod reports set out proposals to widen consultation in the selection of bishops and introduce new methods for addressing doctrinal questions The Vatican has released new synodal reports outlining proposed criteria for the selection of bishops and new methods for addressing doctrinal and pastoral questions. The texts, published by the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops and overseen by Cardinal Mario Grech, include the first part of the final report of Study Group No. 7 on some aspects of the person and ministry of the bishop (in particular: criteria for selecting candidates to the episcopacy, the judicial function of bishops, the nature and structure of ad limina Apostolorum visits) from a missionary synodal perspective, together with the final report of Study Group No. 9 on theological criteria and synodal methodologies for shared discernment of emerging doctrinal, pastoral and ethical issues. Introducing the documents, Cardinal Grech said: “Discernment lies at the heart of selecting a bishop,” a motif in line with the wider synodal emphasis on listening and participation. The report on bishops states that “there is no shepherd without a flock, and no flock without a shepherd”. It sets out a number of qualities expected of candidates, including the ability to “build communion”, “engage in dialogue”, and demonstrate “deep knowledge of local cultures”. It also calls for apostolic nuncios to adopt “a synodal and missionary profile”, adding that they should be capable of recognising those same characteristics in potential candidates for the episcopate. A more structured consultation process is proposed for dioceses approaching an episcopal succession. The report states: “As an episcopal succession approaches, the bishop is to convene the presbyteral council and the diocesan pastoral council, whose members express, in a collegial manner, an opinion on the needs of the diocese and submit to the bishop – in a sealed envelope – the names of priests they consider suitable for the episcopate.” It adds: “Where possible, consultation is also to include the cathedral chapter, the finance council, the lay council, and representatives of consecrated persons, young people and the poor.” The document further recommends that consultation should involve “an equivalent number of consecrated men and women, laymen and laywomen” in order “to bring out the truth as fully as possible”. Provision is also made for the ongoing formation of clergy, with the suggestion that dedicated teams be established to assist bishops. In cases of a vacant see, the report proposes the creation of diocesan committees that may be consulted by the apostolic nuncio “to clarify the state of the diocese, the profile of the new shepherd, and possible candidates”. Alongside these measures, the report calls on the dicasteries of the Roman Curia to review their procedures “in a more synodal direction” and suggests the introduction of periodic independent evaluations of the selection process. The companion report on theological discernment proposes what it describes as a “change of paradigm” in addressing difficult questions facing the Church. Drawing on the witness of the early Church in the Acts of the Apostles, it highlights the importance of unity amid cultural diversity. It states that the term “emerging” should be preferred to “controversial” when referring to such questions, explaining that “the aim is not merely to resolve problems but to build the common good through relational conversion, shared learning and transparency”. The document introduces what it calls the “principle of pastorality”, adding that “there can be no proclamation of the Gospel without taking responsibility for the interlocutor, in whom the Spirit is already at work”. It sets out three methodological steps: “listening to ourselves, listening to reality, and convening different forms of knowledge”, and reiterates that “conversation in the Spirit remains the privileged tool for developing an ecclesial culture of synodality”. The report also indicates areas where these methods are to be applied, including the experience of Catholics with homosexual tendencies and questions relating to active nonviolence. It emphasises the importance of testimony, stating that lived experience should serve as “the starting point for paths of ethical and theological discernment”. The publication of the synodal reports of Study Groups No. 7 and No. 9 represents a structural reconfiguration within the Church, as both documents shift the centre of gravity from a hierarchical model towards one governed by process, consultation and “discernment”. This begins in the framing of Study Group No. 7. Under “Purpose and Scope” (p. 3, §a–b, e–g), the report states: “The Assembly calls for a review of the criteria for selecting candidates for the episcopate, balancing the authority of the apostolic nuncio with participation of episcopal conferences. There are also requests to expand consultation with the faithful People of God…” It continues: “The relevant canons of the Code of Canon Law … must be adapted in accordance with the synodal spirit of the following proposals.” The subordination of canon law to a “synodal spirit” reverses the traditional order, and while it does not explicitly say so, it places the Church’s law within a contemporary process. The shift becomes more pronounced in the section on discernment within the local Church (pp. 5–6, §c–g). The report states: “The bishop must convene the presbyteral council and the diocesan pastoral council … each of these bodies will collegially formulate a written opinion … [and] submit … the names of priests … suitable for the episcopate.” It adds: “Where circumstances allow, the cathedral chapter, the diocesan finance council, the lay council, the unions of consecrated men and women, and diocesan groups that institutionally represent youth and the poor should also be convened.” This is not consultation in the traditional sense, but formalises a structured, representative process of nomination. The inclusion of “groups that institutionally represent youth and the poor” introduces categories that are sociological rather than ecclesial and are not rooted in God. Historically, while acclamation by clergy and people existed, it was precisely curtailed to avoid factionalism and politicisation. The same dynamic appears in the section on a vacant see (pp. 6–7, §b–d): “A Committee for the Provision of the Local Church is established … composed of two diocesan priests … two consecrated men or women and two laypersons … The nuncio relies on this committee … to receive opinions on possible candidates.” In effect, this creates a standing local body that mediates between Rome and the diocese in the nomination of a bishop. The proposed model, even if not formally altering doctrine, introduces a practical expectation of local participation that approximates a nomination process. The development continues in the criteria for bishop candidates themselves (p. 4, §b–c): “It is necessary to consider … his ‘synodal competencies’ … openness to complexity, a disposition towards innovation, the ability to adapt to new situations.” These criteria stand alongside, and risk displacing, the traditional requirements set out in canon 378: sound doctrine, good morals, piety and prudence. The emphasis shifts from what a bishop is to how he operates within a process. If Study Group No. 7 alters governance, Study Group No. 9 addresses doctrine more directly. In its introductory framework (pp. 3–6), the report states that the synodal process “calls for a conversion of heart and mind as well as a transformation of practices” and explicitly prioritises method: “priority to ‘how?’ … favouring ‘the account of the lived experience of the People of God, read and interpreted ecclesially in the light of Revelation’ rather than ‘abstract theoretical assumptions’.” This is a decisive methodological claim. It shifts the starting point of theological reflection from revealed truth, as authoritatively taught, to experience interpreted within a communal process. The report makes this explicit in its call for “a paradigm shift” and a “shared commitment to a historical, experiential, and practical hermeneutics that is genuinely human” (p. 8 ff.). The tension becomes acute in the application of this method. In the section on “emerging issues” (p. 23 ff.), the report selects the experience of persons with same-sex attraction as a test case. The annexed testimonies are not incidental illustrations; they are the material for discernment. Annex A1 (Portugal) states: “The real sin was not my love, but my lack of trust in His desire for my fulfilled life.” It describes a same-sex partner as a “husband” and rejects approaches centred on chastity. Annex A2 (USA) is more explicit: “My sexuality isn’t a perversion, disorder, or cross; it’s a gift from God… If I could choose to be gay, I would.” The difficulty lies in how the report uses these testimonies. They are presented as voices to be “listened to” within a process of discernment that seeks “possible pathways”. The underlying pattern across both documents is therefore the same: the Church hierarchy is reframed as facilitation. While not alien to Catholic life, this is a sign a rebalancing that places pressure on the Church’s traditional understanding of herself. Photo credit: Jeffrey Bruno from New York City, United States – Canonization 2014- The Canonization of Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32427716