Young adults, clergy and bishops participated in synodal circles during the National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors of Hispanic Ministry conference in Newark, N.J., Oct. 23, 2025. Credit: OSV News/Theresa Orozco, courtesy of NCADDHM

Over the past few years, we have seen the concept of synodality introduced into church consciousness and become a primary focus in the way church leaders think about how they gather and make decisions. In March 2025, Pope Francis announced an additional three-year phase of implementation of the synodal process.

But synodality was not just a “Pope Francis thing.” In Pope Leo XIV’s first address from St. Peter’s Basilica last May, he said that we “want to be a synodal church, walking and always seeking peace, charity, closeness, especially to those who are suffering.” And in a recent interview with Elise Ann Allen of Crux, he reiterated his support for synodality.

When you hear about the implementation phase, is your first thought “Oh no, more synodality…and for what?” If so, chances are you have synodality fatigue. 

Discernment and decision-making in the Catholic Church, a global family of 1.4 billion members, will continue to include collaboration between lay and ordained, careful listening, shared leadership, and co-responsibility. On Oct. 24-26, the Vatican hosted a Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies. This shows a continued commitment to the synodal process and connects the unfolding implementation phase to the Jubilee Year theme of hope.

Synodality fatigue

Symptoms of synodality fatigue can include feeling like you just mustered up the energy to share all of your opinions—or organize others to share all their opinions—and you’re not sure where exactly they went or what difference it will make. For some, it includes being worried we’ll continue to open theological or pastoral cans of worms that cause confusion or that we are not equipped to deal with. Other symptoms include feeling like synodal-style conversations are uncomfortable or “touchy-feely.” 

Why do we have synodality fatigue? Synodality involves a cultural shift we are still getting used to as a church. Introducing new processes can be exhausting, especially across large organizational systems like the Catholic Church. We are still working out the kinks of how to do it well. With the next phase of synodal implementation taking place over the next three years, this is our chance as a church to get good at synodality. 

The Vatican’s “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission Vademecum for the Synod” outlines general principles and attitudes of local synodal processes. These include remembering that synodality is first and foremost a spiritual exercise of discernment, which involves listening to God and others, and is participatory. For local meetings to be considered synodal, they need to include time for prayer, sharing and listening. They also must be inclusive—especially of people who are on the margins. There are also a set of attitudes for participating, including but not limited to openness to conversion and change, overcoming ideologies, and leaving behind stereotypes that are essential for synodal processes.

Those who have participated in synodal meetings most likely experienced a facilitation model called “conversations in the spirit.” This model introduces prayer and silence into meeting spaces and allows each participant a time to speak, without being cut off or diverting into discussion. It is great for airing out ideas that need to be spoken without debate, brainstorming or action planning. Conversation in the spirit is a wonderful tool—but it’s not the only tool. And when it’s overused, it can create more synodality fatigue. 

What makes a meeting synodal is not whether it uses conversation in the spirit (though it could), but whether the meeting structure facilitates the journey together of those gathered in a style and a way that upholds the principles of synodal processes, like prayer, sharing, listening and participation. To get good at synodality—and to avoid process fatigue—we need more facilitation structures we can deploy for various synodal-style conversations and gatherings. 

In other words, one antidote to synodality fatigue is to get good at synodal processes. We envision creating a go-to repertoire of facilitation techniques that can support synodal conversation that are dynamic, tailored to different meeting needs, and easy to use. 

Techniques

So what does being good at synodality actually look like? Even those who say they favor a more synodal church might not be able to articulate what that means or what it looks like in practice. It looks like more meetings without pre-written agendas or panel presentations or guest speakers. It looks like more Post-its, Sharpies, sticky dots and easel pads. It looks like fewer meandering sharing sessions. It looks like more movement of participants and fewer static seating arrangements. It looks like more time for prayer and quiet woven into existing meeting time. 

Synodality is risky because you’re giving up some measure of control. It also typically means venturing outside what many meeting attendees have grown accustomed to expect. When we show up at a gathering, we tend to think: “Someone will talk at me first.” “I will find my seat at the table.” “The agenda will be fully set.” “We will go around in a circle and I will share when it’s my turn.” As we continue to get good at synodality and start using a variety of synodal conversation structures, we will begin to change what participants come to expect—both of the organizers and of themselves—at these gatherings.  

In writing the piece, we focused on a number of synodal facilitation structures that can be used as part of a go-to repertoire of facilitation techniques for this. You may have experienced some of these—  like World Cafe Method, Appreciative Inquiry or Open Space Technology. Variations of these exercises and other unique methods make up a long menu of  Liberating Structures, which are a set of facilitation structures designed to foster participation in meetings and gatherings. 

We initially connected over the use of Liberating Structures. Genevieve had been trained in Liberating Structures facilitation methods. Brother Dylan was taught by one of the architects of Liberating Structures in graduate school. We love Liberating Structures because it smashes to bits the same old boring meeting agenda and provides more options for listening, discernment and inclusivity without heavy reworking. Here’s how it does it with a few vivid examples from our experience.

In an Open Space model, meeting participants are typically invited to pitch discussion topics that they then facilitate themselves. Topics are not pre-approved; they are suggested on the spot. Once a list of topics and facilitators is generated, everyone else is free to choose which discussion they attend. 

This kind of meeting structure can be understandably nerveracking to meeting organizers. There are legitimate concerns around ensuring that set topics are adequately covered in meetings, particularly meetings that have taken a great investment of time and money to put together. Open Space seems risky because it can be difficult to envision such meetings becoming other than a free-for-all. Or, some might think the method is an opportunity to surface difficult topics that have already been addressed or cannot be properly resolved by the group gathered together. 

Relinquishing control

At Catholic Relief Services, Genevieve led an Open Space session at an in-person gathering with 80 people, and it was a success. Participants expressed feeling honored and empowered. Even though leaders did not rigidly define topics in advance, the right ones were raised. “Parking lot items,” including those that needed more time than they had been given in the agenda, were allowed more space than just a breaktime conversation. Participants appreciated the leaders’ openness and respected parameters given about realistic expectations for next steps.

One of the conversation’s leaders was at first skeptical: “The idea of relinquishing control and trusting participants to shape the conversation in real time felt ambiguous—almost like it created a risk.” 

However, she ultimately felt that the model increased participant engagement: “People leaned into the topics and tensions that mattered most to them, and natural synergies emerged around issues that needed deeper exploration.” 

She continued, “Rather than feeling chaotic, the meeting became a space where critical, often sidelined conversations had room to breathe.”

This is just one example of a meeting format that honors synodal principles like participation and listening while embracing movement, spontaneity and empowerment. The format is truly open to the Spirit—sometimes in ways that are not always comfortable for organizers! The model’s structure signals trust in the facilitators, participants and the Holy Spirit.

A few years ago, at the 46th General Chapter of the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Brother Dylan was able to experience global synodality in action. Salesian Sister Leslie Sándigo facilitated meetings for three weeks in the Appreciative Inquiry style of large group facilitation. This meeting gathered 70 brothers from across the world to deliberate on initiatives spanning 80 countries.

Initially, spending a lot of time getting to know each other and building shared perspectives felt frivolous when we had a big agenda ahead of us, but the relational approach proved to bear much fruit. This facilitation method allowed the group to start with strengths and a shared understanding across diverse realities. Significant time for prayer and reflection, paired with a process of getting to know each other, helped the difficult deliberations run smoothly and contributed to what was referred to by many as the most fraternal and least contentious chapter in recent memory. The process also included experts from across the church, which contributed to a synodal approach of collaboration and openness rather than siloed self-referentialism. 

Continued fruit

The creation and development of more synodal-style facilitation techniques will necessarily include learning and adapting from a growing number of facilitation structures, like Liberating Structures, that foster participation and inclusivity. We can learn from these and adapt them with the understanding that for a meeting to be synodal, it needs to be grounded in prayer and discernment and uphold synodal process principles. 

Facilitating like this also takes preparation and intentionality. You can’t just wing it. We need more clergy and lay leaders who are equipped in dynamic, energetic facilitation techniques. We recommend training and communities of practice that are committed to creating and becoming experts in a common repertoire of synodal facilitation structures. 

When you learn to liberate your parish council meetings, staff planning retreats, provincial chapters and even your classrooms from top-down agendas and checklists, you will find that those entrusted to your leadership and care will experience the power of the Gospel in being seen, heard and valued. And you will experience increased buy-in, creativity and collaboration.

It is our sincere hope that synodality is here to stay. Some of these methods should ensure that we do more than provide lip service to the concept. Investing in the practical work of getting good at using different facilitation structures for synodality will lead to renewed energy for synodal process and continued fruit in the church.