Synod’s canonical commission calls for diocesan synods, provincial councils every 10 years, ‘complete revision’ of Code of Canon Law

October 01, 2026

A canonical commission established by Pope Francis proposed changes to 34 canons of the Code of Canon Law in light of the Final Document of the 2021-2024 synod on synodality.

“In the long term, however, there is an obvious need for a complete revision of the two Codes to reflect the theological and ecclesiological issues that have emerged,” the commission, referring to the Code of Canon Law (1983) and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (1990), stated in its final report.

The ten-member commission, established in 2023, was formed to assist the General Secretariat of the Synod. The commission’s coordinator was Archbishop Filippo Iannone, O.Carm., the prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts at the time of the commission’s establishment, and now prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.

In releasing the commission’s final report, Cardinal Mario Grech, the synod’s secretary-general, said that “while the whole Church is engaged in theological and ecclesiological reflection on her synodal nature, it seemed important to initiate a corresponding reflection on the norms—the canons—that govern her organization and the relationships among her members.”

“The same reflection will also extend to the law of the Eastern Catholic Churches, for which a specific commission has recently been established,” Cardinal Grech added. “Without corresponding canon law, theology would remain incomplete, ‘like a man with only one arm,’ as Pope Leo XIII once recalled.”

In summarizing the proposed changes to the Code of Canon Law, the General Secretariat of the Synod stated:

The first part of the document contains proposals to amend the canons of the Code concerning the possibility for the lay faithful, both men and women, to exercise in the Church those offices, functions and ministries for which they are suitably qualified and competent, including within the sphere of ecclesial governance.

The second part proposes the revision, from a synodal perspective, of certain canons concerning Particular Councils and Episcopal Conferences, namely those ecclesial bodies entrusted with fostering collaboration among the local Churches.

Finally, the third part addresses participatory bodies as already established in the Code, while proposing amendments aimed at strengthening their participatory dimension and missionary orientation.

Like the Final Reports of the Study Groups, the present Report is to be considered a working document.

In perhaps the most significant proposals, the canonical commission called for diocesan synods to be held in every diocese “at least every ten years,” and provincial councils to be held in every ecclesiastical province every ten years. Ecclesiastical provinces are groups of dioceses in which a metropolitan archbishop has precedence.

Under the current wording of the Canon 446, acts of a provincial council may not be promulgated until the Apostolic See has reviewed them. The canonical commission offered two alternative proposed changes to the process.

Under the first proposed change, the Apostolic See must review the acts of a provincial council within a year and decide whether they may be promulgated. Under the alternative proposed wording, silence from the Vatican betokens consent: “if the Apostolic See does not respond within one year, the decrees can be promulgated.”

 

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Further information:

• Canonical Commission: Final Report (General Secretariat of the Synod, 9/22/26)
• Proposed amendments to canons concerning Ecclesial Governance, Participation of the faithful and Accountability (General Secretariat of the Synod, 9/29/26)
• Final report of Synod's canon law commission published (Vatican News, 9/30/26)