VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio presented a new book in which he describes synodality as a form of shared governance in which clergy and laypeople participate equally.
On March 25, Vatican News published an interview with Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio to present his book Chiesa Sinodale in Cammino (“Synodal Church on the Way”), published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana, offering a pastoral interpretation of the Final Document of the 2023–2024 Synod of Bishops, with the stated aim of helping parish priests and Church structures apply its teachings concretely by promoting a form of “shared ecclesial governance” in which clergy and laypeople decide together.
“An act of governance carried out solely by the parish priest or by the bishop is like a Mass celebrated without the faithful: valid, but lacking something essential,” Coccopalmerio said.
In presenting the volume, the cardinal described it as a “pastoral translation” of the Synod’s Final Document, intended especially for parish clergy tasked with transmitting its content to the faithful and to members of parish pastoral councils. He explained that the original document, while “rich, is not easily usable for catechetical or pastoral purposes” without further simplification and interpretation.
According to Coccopalmerio, “Pope Francis gave the document a very strong doctrinal relevance.” In his view, there are two points that “must be understood.”
First, the “concept of synodality” should be distinguished from the more “general” notion of “ecclesiality.” In fact, in traditional theological language—before contemporary reinterpretations—synodality and ecclesiality were always used as synonyms. A synod has always referred to the body of bishops, understood either as the whole college or as specific assemblies.
Francis, however, has given this word a “specific” meaning, namely “the common activity of two subjects, pastors and the faithful,” consisting in “gathering, dialoguing, discerning, and deciding the good of the Church”—all activities to be carried out within appropriate “structures of synodality, for example, in the case of a parish, the parish pastoral council.” Coccopalmerio is therefore explicitly stating that synodality, according to Francis, entails a more democratic conception of governance in the Church.
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The second foundational concept is the following: “(W)hen pastors and the faithful gather, dialogue, discern, and decide the good of the Church, what the document calls the presence of the Holy Spirit occurs, who makes His voice heard and His will known. Thus, within these structures something human takes place, yet at the same time something that exceeds this human visibility.”
In Catholic doctrine, the Holy Spirit assists the Church in a certain and determinate way, particularly in acts of the solemn magisterium and the universal ordinary magisterium. This assistance is not identified with a human discursive process nor with assembly dynamics, but is tied to the hierarchical office instituted by Christ, who said to the apostles—the first bishops: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20), and to Peter in particular: “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:32).
Moreover, claiming that the Holy Spirit expresses Himself in the synodal process—that is, in a consultative and communal procedure—can be interpreted as implying that the outcome of such a process constitutes, in itself, a normative theological locus. However, the objective criterion of truth cannot be consensus, but conformity to revelation, transmitted and interpreted by the magisterium.
Coccopalmerio also outlined what he described as the trajectory of synodality under Pope Francis: initially emerging “from below,” subsequently receiving formal articulation “from above” through the Synod’s official documents, and now needing to return “below” in order to be fully enacted in ordinary ecclesial life.
In response to concerns that synodal structures may be experienced as “bureaucratic,” Coccopalmerio argued that such perceptions arise from a failure to grasp their significance. He maintained that participation in common decision-making should be regarded as integral to the life of the Church rather than an external imposition.
“I usually draw an analogy between holding a parish pastoral council and celebrating the Eucharist,” the cardinal said. “By now we have fully understood that the celebration of Mass is not [the priest’s] alone—even if valid—but belongs to all of us, with [the priest] presiding. If we are not there, it is not a normal Eucharist; something essential is missing. In the same way, we should be increasingly convinced that an act of governance in the Church carried out solely by the parish priest or solely by the bishop is like a celebration of Mass carried out by the priest alone. Everyone must take part in this act, just as everyone must take part in the Mass.”
The analogy with the Eucharist is theologically improper. In fact, the Church still officially recognizes that a Mass without the faithful is not only valid but also complete, as taught at least since the time of the Council of Trent.
The participation of laypeople, although always desirable to a certain extent, cannot be constitutive of either the Eucharistic sacrifice or ecclesial governance; otherwise, the authority of the Church would be perceived as arising from below rather than descending from God above.