When I imagine how the next 11 months can be used most fruitfully, I think about something, or rather someone, who is largely missing from the synod in Rome: the parish priest.

A Reflection for Friday of the Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time, by Christine Lenahan

The announcement marked a major turnaround for the Holy See and followed an outcry among victims and their advocates over the handling of the case of the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik.

As we approach the expected release of the synod’s summary report on Saturday evening and the closing liturgy on Sunday, here are three questions that I will be paying attention to.

Father Marko Rupnik—a renowned mosaic artist who was expelled from the Jesuits for refusing to comply with ministry restrictions after credible abuse accusations—has been accepted into the Diocese of Koper.

As the first session of the Synod on Synodality in Rome draws to a close, the members have released a Letter to the People of God. The letter is the first of two documents expected from the synod before it concludes its business in Rome on Oct. 29.