Synod of Bishops Documents, 1996-2018

The Synod of Bishops is a permanent institution established by Pope Paul VI on September, 15 1965, in response to the desire of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council to keep alive the spirit of collegiality engendered by the conciliar experience.

Literally speaking the word “synod”, derived from two Greek words syn meaning “together” and hodos meaning “road” or “way”, means a “coming together”. A Synod is a religious meeting or assembly at which bishops, gathered around and with the Holy Father, have opportunity to interact with each other and to share information and experiences, in the common pursuit of pastoral solutions which have a universal validity and application. The Synod, generally speaking, can be defined as an assembly of bishops representing the Catholic episcopate, having the task of helping the Pope in the governing of the universal Church by rendering their counsel. Pope John Paul II has referred to the Synod as “a particularly fruitful expression and instrument of the collegiality of bishops.”

Pope Francis has taken a special interest in the synods and stated in his October 17, 2015 address to Fourteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops: “The journey of synodality is the journey that God wants from his church in the third millennium.” A synodal church is a listening church, aware that listening is more than hearing. It is a reciprocal listening in which each one has something to learn.”

This Verbum collection brings together all of the documents published in English from these synods and offers valuable insight into both the content and process of each synod.

Apostolic Exhortations not contained in this collection can be found either individually on verbum.com or within collections of Apostolic Exhortations from Pope St. Paul VI, Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, or Pope Francis.