The future, as we all know, is ‘terra incognita’, unknown. There is, then, no map, strictly speaking, for the future. However, as the Irish Bishops have noted in their decision to embark on a ‘synodal pathway’ for the Catholic Church in Ireland, the ‘walking together on the way’ that characterises a synodal approach ‘is a time honoured way of working out together the “navigation map” for the Church at particular times’ (https://www.catholicbishops.ie/synod/faqs/). It is an exercise in communal discernment with a focus on the question: what is the Holy Spirit saying to the Church at this time?