Among the questions many Churchwatchers have in the early months of this new pontificate is “What is to become of synodality?”
It seems clear that Pope Leo has no intention of simply dropping the notion of synodality altogether. He has mentioned it with some frequency in the first months of his pontificate, including in his first remarks from the loggia of St. Peter’s immediately after his election.
But the future of synodality depends a great deal on what Pope Leo XIV thinks the word means.
As it happens, the Holy Father gave some indication recently of how he sees synodality going forward. He described synodality this way, “Synodality is a style, an attitude that helps us to be Church, fostering authentic experiences of participation and communion.” (Emphasis in original.)
This is not a new description of synodality. It echoes one of the (many) descriptions offered by Pope Francis, who said in 2019, “Synodality is a style, it is a walk together, and it is what the Lord expects from the Church of the third millennium.”
Nevertheless, a “style” is a rather ephemeral way to describe what, at other times, has been called a “constitutive element” and an “essential dimension” of the Church. And “style” is a far cry from concrete governing structures or formal processes, let alone the sort of magisterium-by-popular-participation which has won the synodal process so much praise and condemnation from various corners of the Church.