The “synod on synodality,” Pope Francis’ two-year effort to move the church toward a more collaborative and decentralized model, kicked off in Rome on Sunday with a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. In his pre-synod speech on Saturday, Pope Francis laid out his vision for the synod, outlining three challenges and three opportunities that the synod faces.

The challenges, as host Colleen Dulle and Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell explain on this week’s episode of “Inside the Vatican,” aren’t limited to those the pope mentioned: In addition to the difficulty of changing the attitudes of Catholics accustomed to what author Austen Ivereigh called a “command and control model,” there are a number of logistical challenges including the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, long distances and conflicts that make diocesan gatherings difficult, and the challenge of holding a large number of meetings in only a short time.

Still, the syond’s purpose is not to complete a transformation in the church, but to begin it.

Links from the show:

Pope Francis clears the way for the beatification of Pope John Paul I

‘There is no need to create another church, but to create a different church,’ Francis says before synod

Pope Francis: Synod calls us to become experts in the art of encounter

Pope Francis receives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in private audience

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