In 2013, Cardinal Bergoglio became Pope Francis and, in his first Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, he made fourteen references to the Aparecida Document, demonstrating that he considers the reflection of the Latin American episcopate relevant. Throughout these ten years of his pontificate, Francis has emphasized, on various occasions and documents, some themes and categories that he considers important for the Church, in line with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. Two of these categories are discernment and synodality, which have passed, if not unnoticed, at least very discreetly in recent pontificates. This article intends to identify the relations between synodality and discernment in the Document of the V Conference of CELAM, in Aparecida, even if the terms do not appear explicitly or their contents and pastoral implications have not been so developed. Next, we will try to demonstrate the relevance of these two categories in Francisco s magisterium, based on documents and speeches. Finally, we try to explain two major challenges for living in a synodal Church and the practice of discernment: the lack of formation and practice of listening and discernment and ecclesial self-absorption.