February 19, 2024

Vatican to publish Instrumentum Laboris for October’s Synod on Synodality meeting

pope francis synod

The Vatican will publish next week the guiding document for discussions at the final assembly of the Catholic Church’s yearslong Synod on Synodality.

The Instrumentum Laboris, or “working tool” for the upcoming 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, will be presented at a July 9 press conference by Cardinals Mario Grech and Jean-Claude Hollerich, together with the special secretaries of the synodal assembly.

Dubbed the “Instrumentum Laboris 2,” the document has been in preparation since early June, when approximately 20 experts in theology, ecclesiology, and canon law held a closed-door meeting to analyze synod reports from dioceses and religious communities.

The Instrumentum Laboriswill guide the discussions at an assembly at the Vatican in October. The monthlong gathering is the second session of a two-part assembly of the Synod on Synodality. The first session was held in October 2023.

The second October assembly is a continuation of the multiyear Synod on Synodality, which began in October 2021 and has included stages of discernment and discussion at various levels of the Church.

The fall meeting will bring together Catholic bishops, priests, religious, and laypeople from around the world to discuss topics included in the Instrumentum Laborisand to prepare the synod’s final document.

This is the second Instrumentum Laborisof the Synod on Synodality. A similar working document of 50 pages was published last year ahead of the synod’s October 2023 assembly.

The 2023 Vatican assembly produced a 41-page synthesis report, while the 2024 assembly is expected to vote on a “final report,” which will then be sent to Pope Francis for consideration.

The third phase of the Synod on Synodality — after “the consultation of the people of God” and “the discernment of the pastors” — will be “implementation,” according to organizers.