Pope Leo XIV addresses the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod during a meeting at the Vatican June 26, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) In the Catholic Church, efforts are being made to increase the active participation of the faithful. In the diocese of Augsburg, a new body is to be set up in the autumn as part of this process.
Bishop Bertram Meier of Augsburg wants to appoint a “Synodal Team” to implement reform efforts in the Catholic Church in his diocese. The members are to be appointed in the autumn and will consist of full-time and voluntary workers, as the diocese announced on Friday.
According to the information provided, the “Synodal Team” is to act as a multiplier and help shape the church’s lifestyle at diocesan level. According to Bishop Meier, it has the task of conveying synodality as an attitude: “It is important to me that there is no conflict between the German way and the world process. It’s not about reinventing the church – it’s about learning to work together again.”
The basis for the “Synodal Team” is the roadmap for further action in the global synodal process, as the statement continued. This was published by the General Secretariat of the Synod in Rome on 7 July after consultation with Pope Leo XIV. Bishop Meier said: “I am delighted that it is now clear how synodality can be further developed at diocesan level.”
Community consultation methods
The aforementioned roadmap shows that the World Synod of the Catholic Church for more active participation of the faithful under Pope Leo XIV, which was initiated by Pope Francis, will continue until October 2028. The corresponding Vatican paper is entitled “Outlines for the implementation phase of the Synod”. The author is the head of the Synod Secretariat, Cardinal Mario Grech, who signed the document on 29 June with the Pope’s approval.
The text confirms Grech’s roadmap for the synod, which Pope Francis had approved on 11 March, six weeks before his death. According to the paper, Pope Leo XIV gave his approval on 26 June at a meeting between the new pope and the Synod Council. According to the document, the implementation of the final document of the World Synod of 26 October 2024 will take place in five phases. Firstly, the results are to be implemented in the dioceses and at national and international level by December 2026. Synodal (i.e. joint) consultation methods and structures are to be created and trialled.