The Synod on Synodality, the sprawling meeting in Rome, has become a flashpoint among different factions of the church’s leadership. Attendees have a broad mandate to discuss the future of the church, including ordaining women as deacons and outreach to L.G.B.T.Q. Relatively progressive leaders, including those appointed by Pope Francis, see the synod as a hopeful moment that could lead to much-needed changes. Cardinal Blaise J. Cupich of Chicago, a close ally of Pope Francis, is among the 14 American bishops attending the meeting. But in a moment when the American church is especially polarized at the top, the synod is also laying bare the divide in the pews, and the scale of the challenge facing the pope.

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Persons: Buś, Stan’s, Pope Francis, Cardinal Blaise J, Cupich Locations: St, Synodality, Rome, Chicago