Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
JesuiticalOctober 11, 2024
Members of the Synod of Bishops watch Pope Francis as he addresses participants during the opening of the synod's first working session in the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall Oct. 2, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

While it might not generate as many headlines as women deacons or L.G.B.T. Catholics, the role of the bishops has emerged as one of the most prominent—and controversial—topics of the Synod on Synodality. Two of the 10 study groups established by Pope Francis are dedicated to bishops, and the pope used his opening address at the final session of the synod in Rome to defend his decision to include lay people as voting members in a Synod of Bishops.

Few people are better equipped to dig into questions around the role, qualifications and selection of bishops than Thomas J. Reese, S.J., a senior analyst at Religion News Service and former editor in chief of America magazine. Tom has written several books about the history and structure of the episcopacy and has covered synods since the 1980s. Zac, Ashley and Sebastian talk to Tom about:

  • How the process of choosing bishops has changed from the apostolic age to today
  • The qualities we should look for in a bishop—holiness, theological smarts or administrative skill?
  • How the role of bishops is being discussed and discerned at the synod

Zac and Ashley also share the tragic news that after a yearlong battle with cancer, friend and three-time guest Greg Hillis has passed away. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Jesuitical’s synod coverage is sponsored in part by the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University.

Links from the show:

The latest from america

Our country is not only in a constitutional crisis; we are in a biblical crisis.
Terence SweeneyMay 21, 2025
A Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, by Father Terrance Klein
Terrance KleinMay 21, 2025
Pope Leo XIV meets with Vice President JD Vance after the formal inauguration of his pontificate at the Vatican on May 18. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo I helped to ensure that Catholicism would outlast the Roman Empire. His name is a reminder that our faith rises above contemporary politics and temporal authority.
The Gospel parable of the “wasteful sower” who casts seeds on fertile soil as well as on a rocky path “is an image of the way God loves us,” Pope Leo XIV told 40,000 visitors and pilgrims at his first weekly general audience.
Cindy Wooden May 21, 2025