ROME

Pope Francis has extended by three years the work of the Synod of Bishops, the Vatican said Saturday, in a bid to continue the work he deems necessary to modernize the global Catholic Church.

The synod will hold consultations with Catholics across the world on wide-ranging reforms to the Church, such as the possibility of women serving as Catholic deacons and more inclusion of LGBTQ people.

It will then hold a new summit in October 2028, after an inconclusive one last October.

“It is of fundamental importance to ensure that the implementation phase serves as an opportunity to re-engage the people who have contributed and to present the fruits gathered from listening to all the Churches and the discernment of the Pastors in the Synodal Assembly; thus, the dialogue already initiated in the listening phase will continue,” Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the General Secretariat of the Synod, wrote in a letter published by the Vatican.

Pope Francis, who celebrated last Thursday the 12th anniversary of his pontificate, approved the extension to the reform process on Tuesday at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he continues to be treated for double pneumonia, the Vatican said.

Doctors consider his condition stable, although he still needs to remain hospitalized.

He has been in hospital for more than a month, and continues to work from there.