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Abstract

Church organizations, like secular ones, face ageing, inertia, and the need for reform. Management scholars argue renewal is best pursued during an organization’s prime, when it is thriving. The Synod on Synodality offers such a pathway, continuing the vision of Vatican II. Renewal is urgent today, given shifting mission contexts and declining religious participation, with many Christians among the religiously disaffiliated. In the build-up to the FABC 50 assembly (November 2022), bishops’ conferences in Asia raised concerns about the Church’s internal life—its structures, ministries, relationships, and governance; and called for a review of the organizational framework of the FABC. For the Church, structures are never neutral; they embody theological and anthropological principles. Insights from Christian anthropology, Vatican II ecclesiology, and the interplay of theology and canon law highlight the importance of structural reform. Synodality, understood as the living Church of one People of God, represents a new stage of consciousness. These raise pressing questions: how would relationships, practices, processes, structures, and policies be reshaped in a truly Synodal Church? The paper acknowledges its limitations, as the author writes from outside the FABC, yet it underscores the urgency of renewal for the Church’s mission today.

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