Synodality and Public Opinion

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the Synod on synodality, the article offers an ecclesiological and communicative reflection regarding how the judgement of the faithful in the Church should be shaped and expressed according to the nature of the topics on which they are called upon to deal with: deposit of faith, Church governance and the realm of the debatable.

The second part studies the participation of bishops’ conferences and the faithful in the synod process and the reception of the Synod in public opinion through the mass media. The three main conclusions of the empirical study are: 1) the participation has been scant, 2) for the Western mainstream press, this Synod is not newsworthy, 2) the analysis of the Catholic press coverage clearly shows that the difficult German Synod path has cast a shadow of suspicion on the universal Synod. There is no doubt that structural problems, also in terms of communication, are there, and they certainly stem from the novelty of an unprecedented ecclesial experiment.