Who might help or scuttle all these bold ambitious plans for synodality? Tales of the Roman Curia – the Vatican civil service – are replete with villainy, but its constant reform under successive popes may surprise.

Monsignor Anthony Ekpo has worked in the Roman Curia for eight years, first in the Secretariat of State and last year Pope Francis appointed him Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. He's seen intelligent women and men – lay, religious and clergy – work quietly out of sight in service of Pope Francis, who might drop by unannounced to greet staff.

But will this powerful machinery accept the synodal reform in a global Catholic church that is decentralising while facing year on year deficits?

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