(RNS) — In his first speech from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, the newly elected Pope Leo XIV took the opportunity to endorse synodality, signaling that this cornerstone theological idea of Pope Francis’ papacy would continue to guide the Catholic Church. With Leo’s backing, Catholic leaders in the pope’s home country have wasted no time in implementing its practical applications.
Synodality, with its emphasis on dialogue as a way of making church decisions, was the focus of a three-year-long process of listening to lay Catholics about their concerns with the church and gathering bishops for the Synod on Synodality, which Francis expanded to include other leaders and thinkers. The synod became a point of controversy in the church, as some conservatives warn it will drain the authority of priests, bishops and cardinals over moral and theological issues.
In the Diocese of Yakima, Washington, which has significant numbers of migrant agricultural workers, Bishop Joseph Tyson has adapted the “conversations in the spirit” that made up much of the synod’s discussions to try to change the narrative on immigration in his region. Conversations in the spirit are “ a type of listening where you’re grounded in Scripture,” said Tyson, who added that he also drew on a book by a Holy Cross priest, the Rev. Daniel Groo …