Synodality with fiction writers means “journeying together” with fiction writers. The Catholic Church has called for a synod which started in 2021 and ends in 2023. Through this synod, the Church intends to know the concerns, hopes and expectations of people of different walks of life vis-à-vis her place and function in the world. This comparative essay is an academic study which falls partly within the compass of this synod as it aims at journeying with Wole Soyinka and T. S. Eliot, critically looking at their works, especially The Road (1965) and Murder in the Cathedral (1935) respectively, to highlight their messages as regards the mission of the Church in particular, and of religions in general. It brings together fictional experiences of both writers, in a comparative perspective, as regards the Church’s mission in the world and for a better contribution of religions in the social arena. Its results reveal that, although these dramatists belong to two different geographical and cultural settings, Britain and Nigeria, their works display similar settings and thematic concerns pertaining to different aspects of religion and convey messages for Church authorities in situation of conflict with the laity and State authorities. Yet, these similarities are not simply the outcome of influences of Eliot on Soyinka but show Soyinka’s attempt at africanizing Eliot’s version of Church-State relationship, which version was itself a perfect fictionalisation of a historical fact.

synodality Religion Church Conflict Comparative literature