Bloc-notes

Object: “Governance & Participation in the Catholic Marketplace of Ideas” is a research project led by Alexis Artaud de La Ferrière, Lecturer in Sociology at Royal Holloway College, University of London. The aim of the project is to conduct a sociological study of the Synod on Synodality, a global process taking place within the Catholic Church between 2021 and 2023 with the stated aim of promoting “a new style of living out the communion, participation, and mission of the Church”.

Aims: In order to better understand how the synodal process works and the scope of its effects, this project will study (1) how the consultation phase of the Synod was conducted, (2) which ideas from the consultation phase are retained and addressed during the deliberation phase, and (3) how these ideas inform decision-making in the governance of the Church and the development of doctrine.

Activities: The project will collect several types of data on the methodologies employed during the consultation and deliberation phases of the Synod, the opinions of lay and clerical actors regarding the synodal process, and the decisions taken by the Assembly of Bishops and the Papacy as a result of the Synod. The first phase of research will be conducted in selected dioceses in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. In each diocese, interviews will be conducted with Church actors involved in the implementation and facilitation of the Synod, surveys will be administered to local Catholics, and working documents will be collected as available. The second phase of research will follow the proceedings of the Assembly of Bishops in Rome in October 2023 and the implementation steps which follow from this Assembly. The third phase will be the synthetic analysis of the collected data and publication of results.

Outcomes: This project will (1) advance the state of the art in the study of how religious institutions regulate internal group dynamics of ideational competition and the specific dynamics of synodal governance within the Catholic Church, (2) provide an empirical account of how the Synod worked which can inform Catholic decision-makers for the future development of synodal practices, (3)  provide insights for other large complex organisations interested in integrating consultative and deliberative structures into their governance models.

For more information please contact Alexis Artaud de La Ferrière:

alexis.artauddelaferriere[at]rhul.ac.uk

+44 (0)1784 414243

Royal Holloway, University of London, TW20 0EX