Faithful invited to pray for intercession of the Holy Spirit during synod (Video)
In October, the Synod on Synodality Session One will be held in Rome and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., the Archbishop of Newark, will be participating. Pope Francis has urged the faithful to pray for the intercession of the Holy Spirit during this first synodal session.
“Without prayer, there will be no Synod,” Pope Francis said.
The Synod on Synodality, begun in 2021, is in response to Pope Francis’ request to embrace synodality as the way forward for the Church in the modern world.
During October, the Synod Team of the Archdiocese of Newark has arranged Zoom sessions to pray and discuss the four themes: Synodality, Communion, Mission, and Participation. These sessions will take place on four Wednesdays in October from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The sessions will be guided by different synod experts each week. They include in order of appearance: Synod Coordinator Sister Donna L. Ciangio, O.P., who is also the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Newark; Milissa Else, Assistant Coordinator for Parish Strategies; Brother Christopher Hall, C.F.C., Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent of High Schools; and Auxiliary Bishop Michael Saporito.
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In 2021, Pope Francis invited Catholics — from bishops to laity — to gather and share their feelings, listen in prayer, and discern a way forward. For the first time, all Catholics were invited into this process of a synod, which is historically reserved for just bishops.
In a recent video message to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Newark, Cardinal Tobin explains that Synodality means “journeying together.” The Church has gathered in synods since its very beginning for the purpose of effectively carrying out its mission to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and peoples. As Pope Francis reminds us frequently, our journeying together is what manifests the nature of the Church as the pilgrim and missionary People of God, he said.
“Every baptized Christian is called to be a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ,” Cardinal Tobin said. “This means that all of us are co-responsible for the Church’s mission. And it is vitally important for us to listen to each other respectfully in order to discern what the Word of God is saying to us here and now as we confront the challenges and opportunities of life in the 21st century.”
For the Archdiocese of Newark, participation meant a series of 700 prayerful listening sessions capturing the voices of more than 15,000 northern New Jerseyans in 2021 and 2022.
During the Synodal Process two questions were asked: How does journeying together take place today on different levels (from the local level to the universal one), to best proclaim the Gospel in the 21st century? and What steps is the Spirit inviting us to take to grow as a synodal Church?
The result of the Archdiocese’s listening sessions was a 39-page report that was merged into the “North American Final Document for the Continental Stage of the 2021-2024 Synod: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission” compiled by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB).
A major theme throughout the process according to the report is a “deep desire” for greater inclusivity within the Church. It acknowledges that certain people or groups — women, young people, immigrants, racial or linguistic minorities, LGBTQ+ persons, people who are divorced and remarried without an annulment, and those with varying degrees of physical or mental abilities who do not always feel welcome in the Church.
The compilation of listening session reports from all seven continents was sent to Rome and will be discussed over the next month.
The synod’s general assembly in October includes more than 450 participants with more than a quarter non-bishops, including laypeople and women who for the first time will have a vote during synod deliberations.
Twenty Americans will be participating along with Cardinal Tobin and other bishops.
“Please pray for Pope Francis and for all of us who will participate in the Synod next month,” Cardinal Tobin said. “May the Holy Spirit, who guides the Church’s journey through history, help us to listen prayerfully to the Word of God and to engage in fruitful dialogue with one another for the good of all humanity and for the protection and care of our common home.
The Synod Session One will open on Sept. 30 with Pope Francis presiding over an ecumenical prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Square. from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Rome time (11 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT) that will be transmitted live by Vatican Media on YouTube, with translations in eight languages. The faithful can unite in prayer with the pope, Cardinal Tobin, leaders representing churches of other denominations, young adults, and others from around the world as they entrust the Synod to the Holy Spirit.
Cardinal Tobin and other Synod participants will then attend a retreat Sept. 30-Oct. 3 in Sacrofano, Italy.
Begun in October 2021, the “Synod on Synodality” was recently extended by Pope Francis through October 2024, to allow for more time for reflection and discernment from both the local and universal Church. The Universal Phase of the Synod will be held in two parts, the first in October 2023 and the second a year later in October 2024.
To register for the Archdiocese Zoom prayer sessions click here.
Sister Donna said that Synod Session One will be a prayerful sharing and discernment process, taking seriously all that was expressed by Catholics around the world. “It is a great opportunity to listen to the hopes and desires of the people of God to be heralds of the Gospel in the 21st century. It will be imperative that we all take this seriously and commit ourselves to prayer to the Holy Spirit for guidance.”
Featured image: Pope Francis participates in morning prayer during a session of the Synod of Bishops on young people in this file photo from 2018. The October assembly of the “synod on synodality” has been designed to include more times for shared prayer — both publicly and among synod members only. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
