The church's synodal structure must be strengthened at all levels, Lehmann said, adding that Francis has made repeated appeals for a synodal church. For Lehmann, who was ordained during the Second Vatican Council and became Karl Rahner's assistant, this "synodality" was more important than possibly holding a Third Vatican Council. There are great opportunities for the church in a globalized world as long as it discards its centralist approach, he emphasized.
The council decrees have not always been adequately applied or implemented, Lehmann said. The fact "that we didn't take the societal changes that occurred after Vatican II, most particularly those of 1968, and the deep effect they had on people, seriously enough," was one the church's gravest failures.
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/synodality-must-once-again-become-structural-practice-church-german-cardinals-and