From Synodal Discernment to Canonical Reform: The Proposed Amendments to the Latin Code of Canon Law

The Synod on Synodality has raised fundamental questions concerning the manner in which communion, participation, and mission are to be embodied in the juridical structures of the Catholic Church. In response to the 2023 and 2024 General Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops, the Canonical Commission for a Synodal Church prepared a Final Report proposing a number of modifications to the 1983 Code of Canon Law. This article examines the principal proposals of the Commission and argues that they represent an attempt to move from a merely formal understanding of participation towards an institutionalised culture of synodal co-responsibility.