Welcome to America magazine’s Conclave Podcast. In today’s episode from Rome, the team interviews Anna Rowlands, Professor of Theology at Durham University and a theological advisor to the Synod on Synodality. They discuss:

00:00 What was the Synod on Synodality?
3:49 The church is now in a three-year implementation phase. What does that mean?
8:12 To what degree has synodality taken root? Could it be rolled back by the next pope?
12:52 How the cardinals are discussing synodality in pre-conclave meetings
17:04 Why some cardinals think synodality lessens the authority of bishops
19:59 What are "episcopal collegiality" and "differentiated co-responsibility"? Why are some cardinals worried about both?
25:23 The relationship between sacramental ministry and governance in the Catholic Church
31:05 What converts people to synodality?
35:04 What theological questions are established and what questions are open?

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Links from the show:

The conclave is a referendum on synodality: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/05/03/synod-synodality-conclave-250576

Interview: Cardinal Müller on if Pope Francis was a heretic and what he wants in the next pope: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/05/03/cardinal-gerhard-muller-pope-francis-conclave-250572

Hong Kong’s Jesuit Cardinal Chow on the conclave, the next pope and Francis’ legacy:
https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/05/02/cardinal-chow-pope-francis-conclave-250551

Pope Francis and the future of Catholic moral theology: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/04/30/pope-francis-moral-theology-encounter-ethics-250528

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