One Year After the Synod: Did Anything Change?

A year ago this month, the Synod on Synodality concluded its assembly at the Vatican. Three hundred and sixty-eight voting members — bishops, religious, and for the first time, lay people — approved a final document calling for the Church to embrace transparency, shared governance, and a genuine role for the laity.

Then Pope Francis did something remarkable: he adopted the entire document into his ordinary magisterium. Every word. Including the parts about women's leadership, about accountability, about the need for structures that don't just listen to lay Catholics but actually give us a seat at the table.

So here we are, twelve months later. What has changed?

The honest answer is: some things, and not enough things.

On the positive side, dioceses across the country are experimenting with synodal practices. Phoenix is running a Synod of Young Adults. Yakima is using "conversations in the spirit" to engage immigrant communities. Dallas has a 45-member synod implementation commission that includes laypeople, deacons, and priests. These are real, concrete steps.

But a recent survey from the Catholic Project at Catholic University of America found that 37 percent of surveyed priests in the United States agreed that "The Synod on Synodality was a waste of time." Only half said synodality should be a priority. That number should trouble all of us.

Here in Pittsburgh, I'd say we're somewhere in between. The diocese has not ignored the synod entirely, but neither has it launched the kind of ambitious listening and implementation process we're seeing in other parts of the country. CCOC has been doing this work for years — our focus groups on lay oversight, financial transparency, and pathways to lay leadership are exactly the structures the synod called for. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. We need the diocese to recognize that the wheel already exists.

What I find encouraging is the sheer number of Catholics who, once they understand what synodality means, say: "Yes. That's what we've been asking for." It turns out that most people in the pews aren't looking for revolution. They're looking for a voice. They want to know that when they speak, someone is listening — not just politely, but with the intention to act.

Pope Francis approved a three-year implementation phase that leads to an ecclesial assembly at the Vatican in 2028. Three years is not a long time. If Pittsburgh wants to be part of that story, the work needs to accelerate now.

CCOC stands ready to help. We've been walking this road since 2018. We know the terrain. And we're still here — not because we're angry, but because we love this Church and believe it can be better.

The synod gave us a map. Now we need the courage to follow it.