Most modern constitutional states today describe themselves as republics. Such republics sound as though they have a lot in common with Catholic social teaching. They do.

“Recognizing the divergences is unitive,” a bishop member of the synod told me. “It can provide healing.”

In a new letter to the People of God, the synod participants emphasized the importance of continued discernment for the Church's future.

This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley discuss a, if not the, big question hanging over the synod: Can it change church teaching?

What message does it send to women when the first synod to include them as full, voting members opts to forgo an actual vote in favor of approval by applause?

It will not be enough to read any document that comes from the synod; Catholics must experience the synod, must do synod. The best place to do this is in your parish.