What will be the outcome of the Synod

Marcello Neri reports that the final results of the Synod remain difficult to determine due to the extensive schedule of sessions still to be convened. The process follows three planned phases: a narrative phase from 2021 to 2023, a wisdom phase from 2023 to 2024, and a prophetic phase scheduled for 2025 to 2030.

Neri notes that the Synod has involved numerous meetings, syntheses, and adjustments using strictly ecclesiastical language. While the Synod is a tool for bishops to assist the pope under canons 342 to 348, it has been perceived as being directed toward the people. This perception may explain the low level of participation at the diocesan level.

The analysis suggests that the language in published documents remains hierarchical and difficult for non-clerics to understand. Neri states that this language can be interpreted as authoritative and relies heavily on references to past texts and authorities to establish orthodoxy. He observes that the current structure of the assembly, which was intended to include bishops in communion with the Christian people, may require broader contributions for any meaningful reform.