Recommended Resources

The Final Document of the XVI Assembly is now available to view in various languages, along with an accompanying note from Pope Francis.

A book setting out an approach to Pastoral Planning based on communal discernment written with a broad-based audience in mind.

Journal article exploring the Ignatian roots of the conversation in the spirit.

Letter of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to the People of God.

Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP, former Master of the Dominican Order, gave a series of meditations at the pre-Synod retreats held for the participants of the 16th Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, in October 2023 and 2024.

Theological Briefing Papers put together as part of a mapping project of all academic material on Synodality in English, Spanish, French and German

Resource Type: Theological bibliography and accessible theological briefing papers

Some short introductory videos to Synodality from the Apsel.ie introductory course on Synodality

Resource Type: Seven short 1-3 minute videos introducing different aspects of Synodality from a collaborative formation project based in Ireland.

Pope Francis’ homily on the story of the rich young man, on the Mass celebrating the opening of the 2021-24 Synod.

Resource Type: A short homily that characterises synodality through three verbs, encountering, listening and discerning.

An initial exploration of what it might look like to develop a Spirituality of Synodality.

Resource Type: A long document from the Spirituality Commission of the 2021-23 Synod with shorter sections (eg p11-23 exploring central themes of a Spirituality of Synodality) that can be engaged with without reading the whole document.

A resource highlighting how Scripture is at the heart of the synodal journey.

Resource Type: A 94 page document from the Spirituality Commission of the 2021-24 Synod office exploring 7 Biblical passages and two different approaches to reflecting with Scripture.