The recent Synod has characterized the synodal path a “further reception of the [Second Vatican] Council, prolonging its inspiration and reinvigorating its prophetic force for today’s world.” We explore how the seeds of synodality planted sixty years ago have been growing and are now called to bear fruit. Among them we consider the council’s recovery of the dignity of all the baptized faithful and the historic reconfiguration of diverse ministries old and new ministries – called to serve in response to the needs of the 21st century. We will attend especially to the Synod’s proposals for the renewal of the Church in our day and their implications for the life of the local churches.
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Prof. Catherine Clifford
Catherine E. Clifford is Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Saint Paul University, Ottawa. She holds a PhD in Theology from the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Her teaching, research, and publications focus in the areas of ecclesiology, ecumenism, and the history of the Second Vatican Council. Catherine has served since 2017 as a member of the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission, and is Vice-President of the Catholic Theological Society of America. She served as a full voting delegate to both sessions of the General Assembly of the Synod on Synodality in 2023 and 2024.
Catherine has authored, co-authored, edited or co-edited sixteen monographs and published more than a hundred articles and book chapters in seven languages. Her most recent publications include: The Oxford Handbook of Vatican II (Oxford UP, 2023), co-edited with Massimo Faggioli, and the collection, Vatican II at 60: Re-Energizing the Renewal (Orbis, 2024).