Q: What connection is there between synodality and primacy?
A: “The primacy must be exercised in a synodal way, and synodality requires primacy,” says, Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity, high-lighting one of the key points a new study document entitled, The Bishop of Rome.
“The greater part of the responses and dialogue documents clearly agree on the mutual interdependence of primacy and synodality at every level of the Church: local, regional, and even at the universal le-vel. Consequently, primacy must be exercised in a synodal manner, and synodality requires primacy. On all these aspects, our Dicastery has also organised conferences entitled “Lis-tening to the East” and “Listening to the West,” listening to the different Christian traditions regarding synodality and primacy, as a contribution to the synodal process.”

• Cardinal Kurt Koch
  Prefect of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity