(RNS) — In January, Cincinnati’s Catholic Archbishop Robert G. Casey announced his plans to hold an archdiocesan synod next year, asking southwest Ohio’s Catholics to prepare for “a time of prayer, a time of listening to the Holy Spirit and to one another in order to discern God’s will for our local church in the years ahead.” When I spoke to the archbishop recently, I noticed how often he spoke in terms of “we” rather than “I.” When any leader speaks that way, we have good reasons for hope. Cincinnati’s synod is an important way the Catholic Church is embracing synodality, Pope Francis’ signature vision that he called the whole Roman Catholic Church to in 2021 as a next step in the living-out of the Second Vatican Council. Pope Leo XIV has made clear that synodality will continue under his leadership. Synodality literally means “walking together,” and it is a way of thinking about church governance that dates to the earliest moments of Christianity. Synodality invites the members of the church to full participation in …