With the document “Making Memory”, published this Monday, July 27, 2026, the Holy See transmits its instructions to dioceses around the world so that they organize “evaluation assemblies” within the framework of the Synod on synodality. These assemblies must allow the faithful to measure developments and appreciate the fruits resulting from the Synod, this great process launched five years ago in order to make the Church less clerical and more participatory.
A vast project initiated by Pope Francis in 2021, the Synod on synodality took place at several levels in the Church – dioceses, nations, continents – before two global meetings in Rome in 2023 and 2024. Shortly before his death, the Argentine Pope ensured the sustainability of the work by organizing a synodal “ecclesial assembly” in Rome in 2028. In this perspective, Leo
Evaluation meetings
According to the calendar updated by the Synod secretariat last May, “evaluation assemblies” must be held in the dioceses in the first half of 2027. The document “Making memory”, published this Monday by the Synod secretariat, is an accompanying text intended for the bishops and synodal teams of each diocese in order to help them prepare this sequence, in particular the drafting of a “narrative report” and a “Letter to other Churches”.
The narrative report must be between 6 and 8 pages: initially, a preliminary version must be written by the synodal team to allow the collective “memory” of the synod to be “collected”, in particular all the fruits obtained since 2021. This report must then be validated by the bishop by the end of the year 2026, before being presented during a diocesan evaluation assembly of one to two days that the bishop must officially convene during the first half of 2027.
All members of the participation bodies of the diocese (pastoral and priestly councils) but also all the faithful who wish to participate will be invited. The bishop must ensure that all components of his diocese are represented during this assembly, in particular the most vulnerable people, but also people outside the usual ecclesial community. The Holy See insists that this meeting be a spiritual time, requiring dioceses to use the method of “conversation in the Spirit.”
A “narrative account”
The main aim of the assembly will be to deepen the narrative report prepared by the synodal team so that it becomes a story recognized by the entire community. She will also have to write a “Letter to other Churches” of approximately two pages, testifying to her faith and her hopes. Once validated by the bishop, the final narrative report and the letter must be sent to the national synodal team and the Synod secretariat before June 30, 2027.
In the second half of 2027, assemblies of the episcopal conferences will be held – at the national level – which will in turn develop a “theological-pastoral report” and a letter to the other local Churches. These documents must reach Rome before December 31, 2027. Then, it will be the turn of the continental assemblies to send to the Synod secretariat a document setting priorities and orientations before April 30, 2028.
