Welcome back to the Word on Fire show. I'm Matthew Petrusc, senior director of the Word on Fire Institute and the host of the Word on Fire show.

Thank you for joining us. After spending nearly a month in Rome, Bishop Barron has just returned from the concluding session of the Synod on Synodality.

The Synod is one of the most significant events that has taken place within the church since Vatican 2, and yet there remain

numerous basic questions among the faithful. What defines a synod as a synod and what role does

play in church governance? Who was invited to represent the church, and why? What challenges were

discussed during the synod and what solutions, if any, did the attendees reach?

What magisterial authority is the final document that came out of the senate have?

Should we expect another synod in the future, or was this one meant to be definitive?

And what impact, if any, does either the structure or content of the synod have on the church's ability to evangelize effectively

both in the U.S. and abroad. Here to help us address these and related questions, and to give us a

rundown on his own experience at the synod is Bishop Robert Barron. Well, welcome back home, Bishop, and welcome back to the studio.

Yeah. I'm very happy to be home, I must say. I can see that. I'm very happy.

So today we're going to be talking about your experience at the Senate, the second time that you've gone.

But before we do, I hear that while you were in Rome, you also got the chance to pop over to the Czech Republic.

So what were you doing there?

I did. Last year at the Senate, I was invited by this wonderful lady to come to Prague and to deliver a paper.

And I'm always attracted to invitations when I can give a more formal academic paper.

But then secondly, I've always wanted to see Prague.

I've heard for years, like Prague is the jewel of Europe.

Prague is the really great city.

And I'd never been there.

So I accepted the invitation and thought, well, okay, I'm already in Europe.

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