The International Theological Commission, in its document on synodality, observed that ‘the concept of synodality refers to the involvement and participation of the whole People of God in the life and mission of the Church’.1 More specifically, it refers to participation in the exercise of discernment and decision making that is intrinsic to that mission. This discernment and decision making requires structures to make it clear not merely when decisions have been made and who makes them, but how they are made and how the people who make them work together. Such structures are embodied in legal instruments that are appropriate to the context, which here is the area of Church life which is between the properly local – the diocese – and the properly universal – the Holy See. In history the usual word for the gatherings that embodied these attempts was ‘synod’. Although the synods are seen as gatherings of bishops it is clear throughout that history that many others have been present at them: a notable and famous example was the presence of the Alexandrian deacon Athanasius at the Council of Nicea. Discernment and decision making at the supra-diocesan level has always involved bishops – but not only bishops. This article lays out the provisions of the current law surrounding this task in the Roman Catholic Church.
