On Saturday both X and Facebook posts that displayed the final results — as well as accompanying comments of social media users — were deleted from the official accounts of the synod office.
However, some users were able to screenshot an image of the poll results before the synod office removed it. Catholics on social media criticized the removal of the unflattering results, a move that many described as hypocritical.
“The Synod_va Church wants to hear from you. Until and unless you tell them something they don’t want to hear. #synodality,” Amanda (@TheMrsFarnum) wrote on X.
Another X user, Matthew Hazell (@MPHazell), an English Catholic working on projects that compare tradition and reformed Roman rite liturgies, criticized the removal of the posts, writing: “Oh dear, the @Synod_va poll on #synodality was deleted! Doesn’t seem very #synodal…” and, in another separate post: “Perhaps the experts and the October 2024 #Synod participants will be forwarded the results.”
However, Catholic Faith Technologies Vice President Jonathan Lewis offered a different take on the online poll, arguing that the results said more about respondents than synodality.
“Based on the top comments and poll results, this post reiterates the reality of North American resistance to synodality compared with the global Church,” Lewis said on X.
The October synodal gathering in Rome will conclude the “discernment phase” of the Synodal Process 2021–2024. The first Vatican session was held in October 2023 and included 363 participants from around the world.
The Synod on Synodality states that the process is divided into three phases: the consultation of the people of God, the discernment of pastors, and the implementation of the synodal Church. It is the first synod in Church history where laypeople have voting rights.
Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has repeatedly called for a “listening Church” that encourages pastors and the faithful to walk and work together to create a Church that is open, welcoming, and missionary in its outlook.
Issues discussed in the previous session on synodality in October 2023 included the female diaconate and LGBTQ+ inclusion within the Catholic Church.
