Synod on Synodality: What Changed Between Draft and Summary Report?
The Synod on Synodality assembly approved a 42-page summary report on Saturday night — but only after some significant changes were made to an initial draft.
The final summary report did not include the term “LGBTQ+”, which was present in the draft document that was first given to synod members on Wednesday, Oct. 25 and obtained by the Register at that time. Likewise, a proposal appearing to call for a permanently in-session synod providing consultation to the Pope did not make it into the final summary report, which will serve as the basis for the synod’s October 2024 session.
Language suggesting the need to reconsider the extent to which “sexual difference should shape ecclesiology and approaches to ministry” — an apparent reference to the Church’s understanding that only men are eligible to be ordained to holy orders, and therefore exercise certain ministries of teaching, governance, and sanctification — was also removed.
1,251 amendments to the draft text were submitted by synod delegates, and a writing team worked to incorporate them into the final version before it was given to members on Saturday and voted on later that night. Every paragraph in the final summary report was accepted by the assembly with the required two-thirds support.
While some items were removed from the final text, other elements completely absent from the draft appeared to be added. One particularly notable instance of this was the addition of a proposal to place men who have left the priesthood into “a pastoral service that enhances their training and experience,” on a case-by-case basis.
In several cases, references underscoring the importance of Church teaching were added. For instance, the word “magisterium,” which refers to the authoritative teaching of the Catholic Church, appears 10 times in the final version, while only four references were made in the original draft.
