Retired Pope Benedict XVI has said he hopes to soon join a beloved professor friend in “the afterlife,” in a sign that the 94-year-old pontiff is not only accepting his eventual death but welcoming it.

In addition to the difficulty of changing the attitudes of Catholics accustomed to a “command and control model” of church, the synod faces several logistical challenges.

Nothing leaves Jesus indifferent; everything is of concern to him. Encountering faces, meeting eyes, sharing each individual’s history.

The synod is intended to involve all the baptized—bishops, clergy, religious and laity—at the diocesan and continental levels.

And why is Pope Francis holding a synod on synodality?

Archbishop (later Cardinal) John Francis Dearden of Detroit (1907-88) played an exceptionally significant role in paving the way for what Pope Francis is trying to do in reviving the ancient practice of including all the baptized in the work and mission of the church.