Implementation phases of the Final Synod Document
The end of the Synod Assembly was an emotional moment. 400+ people had spent a month together, praying, discerning, writing proposals, for Pope Francis to take the Final Synod Document into church teaching. At the same time, they knew that the hard work was just beginning. The document would need to be received and enacted by the local church, with that differing from place to place around the world.
On 15th March 2025, Cardinal Grech, head of the Synod Secretariat, wrote to the bishops announcing the implementation phase of the Final Synod document, so that the global church could walk its synodal journey in step, sharing the learning and creativity across different contexts and communities.
To help with sharing ideas, he has announced a series of Assemblies running through 2027-28, from diocesan to national and continental, culminating with an Ecclesial Assembly in Rome autumn 2028.
Useful Resources from the School for Synodality
All of our resources are designed to help support the synodal conversion of the Catholic Church in our day to day practice, as laid out by the Final Synod Document. You can explore all of our resources here, we suggest starting with the three below:
Implementation Timeline:
March 2025 - Announcement of the accompaniment and evaluation process
May 2025 - Publication of the Support Document for the implementation phase, with guidelines for its conduct
June 2025 – December 2026 - Implementation paths in local Churches and their groupings
24-26 October 2025 - Jubilee of synodal teams and participatory bodies
First half of 2027 - Evaluation Assemblies in Dioceses and Eparchies
Second half of 2027 - Evaluation Assemblies in national and international Episcopal Conferences, Eastern hierarchical structures, and other groupings of Churches
First half of 2028 - Continental Evaluation Assemblies
June 2028 - Publication of the Instrumentum laboris for the works of the ecclesial Assembly in October 2028
October 2028 - Celebration of the ecclesial Assembly in the Vatican.