VATICAN CITY — Delegates from around the globe are converging on Vatican City for the opening of an unprecedented assembly seen as part of the broadest consultation on the direction of the faith since the 1960s.

For the first time, lay people with voting rights — including women — will be participating in a synod, the church’s leading consultative body and a forum previously reserved for senior clerics. This assembly will be followed by a second one in October 2024, after which a set of recommendations are expected to go to the pope.