The working document for the Synod on Synodality was released Tuesday, June 19 and made clear, as veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell says on this week’s episode of “Inside the Vatican,” that “This is a synod like none other.”

In this episode, Gerry and host Colleen Dulle unpack the working document and how it will shape the first global meeting of the Synod on Synodality in October. The synod’s location has been changed to the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, where chairs can be moved around to facilitate small group discussions, and the working document gives a guideline for those conversations, using a method it calls “conversation in the Spirit.”

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In the second half of the show, Colleen and Gerry discuss the questions raised in the working document that they found most significant. The questions fall into three themes that have guided the synod from the start: communion, participation, and mission.

Links from the show

Vatican releases Synod document calling for discussion of women, LGBT Catholics, church authority and more

The working document for the Synod on Synodality

Deep dive: The ‘Synod on Synodality’ — What’s done and what comes next?

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Each week, Colleen Dulle goes behind the headlines of the biggest Vatican news stories with America’s Rome correspondent Gerard O’Connell. They'll break down complicated news stories that have a whole lot of history behind them in an understandable, engaging way. Colleen and Gerard will give you the inside scoop on what people inside the Vatican are thinking, saying—and planning.

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