In the days between the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV, the topic of synodality emerged as one of the most controversial in the papal transition. The question of the reception of the synodal renewal envisioned by Francis became a visible, traceable fault line as a new pope was being chosen. In the communications that trickled out to the waiting public through carefully choreographed media interviews and Vatican press briefings, it became clear that three quite distinct perspectives were discernible. Some wished to suppress synodality; others wanted to proceed cautiously in the pastoral and missiological dimensions and perhaps on a corrected path with regard to structural and doctrinal matters; and others still hoped to move forward with energy.
