Massive synod outreach to New Jersey Catholics underway
The effort to connect with all the Catholics in the Archdiocese of Newark is underway.
The impressive undertaking is in response to Pope Francis’ desire to hear from as many active and inactive Catholics as possible worldwide.
It is all part of the global synodal process the Holy Father began on Oct. 10 with a special Vatican Mass.
“It will unleash the biggest consultation in human history,” Cardinal Joseph Tobin, C.Ss.R., said a week later when the Archdiocese of Newark officially began its synodal journey with its own special Mass. “Imagine that: efforts to hear the voices of more than a billion people on the face of the earth. Who does that?”
Ever since, leaders in the Archdiocese quickly mobilized efforts to engage with as many of the 1.3 million active and inactive Catholics in northern New Jersey as possible.
How does it work? It begins with a website, of course. And prayer. And lots of meetings, emails, and phone calls.
“The people I have spoken to throughout the archdiocese seem very enthusiastic about the synod,” said Sister Donna Ciangio, O.P., the Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Newark.
Sister Donna and Father Bismarck Chau, the rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, are the local Archdiocesan coordinators of the synodal process. They and their teams have been holding information sessions with parishes, schools, religious congregations, and the various ministries of the archdiocese.
During the month of November, diocesan leaders, parish pastors, and lay leaders gathered in person and virtually to learn about the synod process and how to conduct localized listening sessions for the faithful.
Listening sessions will take place throughout the archdiocese from December until February.
“The information sessions have served as a model of what a listening session should look like where participants feel safe to ask questions and voice their thoughts and feelings about the synodal process,” explained Father Bismarck. “For the listening sessions, we invite all participants to come with an open heart and open mind, ready to hear the Holy Spirit speak through our sisters and brothers. These sessions may not solve all the problems or limitations in our Church today, but surely, they will shed light on which direction the Church needs to move forward in these changing times.”
Father Bismarck also said there had been much excitement and interest from the participants he has interacted with so far. However, there are some concerns regarding how to reach Catholics who have not been attending church. There is also fear that the feedback gleaned from the listening sessions “will remain only a document without any fruits.”
Ultimately, the listening session reports will be gathered and synthesized into a diocesan report to be sent on to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in the Spring. From there, further reporting will be sent on to the Vatican.
Sister Donna said that no matter what, the local synod feedback process is extremely important and can be used to inform decision-making at local parishes and at the diocesan level. She said the feedback should be a treasure trove of information for local parish pastoral councils when it comes to parish planning.
“If it doesn’t change the whole world, we know that we have the opportunity here in the archdiocese and in our parishes to focus on the things that are missing, the things that are really good – our successes – and then make pastoral plans from there,” Sister Donna said. “We hope that we are going to get some good information that helps not only Pope Francis from people around the world, but that here in the Archdiocese, this is going to help us with the way we structure our programs, or our ways of reaching out – or evangelization – in the Archdiocese.”
Sister Donna mentioned the importance of connecting with parents of religious education students. It is a group the church does not always hear from because, although parents bring their children for sacraments, they may not always be active participants in parish life themselves. The Catechetical Office of the Archdiocese of Newark has reached out to parish religious education directors to engage these parents in listening sessions.
Catholic Charities, the Mercy House of the Archdiocese, and other ministries plan to speak with the needy of the archdiocese with whom they have relationships through food pantries, soup kitchens, and other support services.
Efforts are underway by the many other archdiocesan ministries to participate in the synod effort.
The African American, African, and Caribbean Apostolate, for example, has scheduled listening sessions for every Sunday in February to gather people from each county of the archdiocese.
“February is Black History Month,” said Father Emeka Okwuosa, S.D.V., the coordinator of that apostolate. “We want to give an opportunity to the black community to say how they feel about the church and how they contribute.”
Father Emeka recalled a recent conversation with someone who does not feel part of the Church.
“He does not feel the church is the mother we say it is,” he explained. “It’s more of stepmother. I believe the synod can help people express their feelings about the church. I’m praying parishioners can experience the motherhood of the church.”
When it comes to the elderly, Sister Donna hopes parishes will utilize Mass livestreams to reach that population or for connections to happen through Eucharistic minister home visits.
“It is hard because we are a large, diverse archdiocese with 212 parishes,” she said. “It is a huge project to try to reach out to the most people as possible.”
Father Bismarck has been working closely with Deacon Asterio Velasco, the director of the Hispanic Ministry of the Archdiocese of Newark, regarding synod planning among the Hispanic faithful of the archdiocese.
“The listening sessions have been designed to be simple and straightforward having as focus one general question: ‘How is the Holy Spirit calling us as a Church in announcing the Gospel in the 21st Century?’” explained Father Bismarck. “With that question in mind then participants will be invited to share on ‘How is this journeying together happening in their parish community?’ and ‘How are we walking together as a church and what steps are the Holy Spirit inviting us to take to grow in this journeying together?’”
He said there is an emphasis on allowing the Holy Spirit, the protagonist of this Synod, to move in the conversations.
The archdiocese recently launched a new Spanish-language synod webpage where Catholics can more. In addition to Spanish and English-language pages, materials are also being prepared in Polish, Portuguese, Korean, Chinese, and other languages.
“We have large numbers of different types of cultural and language groups here,” said Sister Donna. “We are trying to do our best to reach out to include as many people as possible.”
The Pastoral Ministry with Persons with Disabilities has also prepared a webpage to encourage accessible synodality planning.
Visit the Archdiocese of Newark’s synod webpage to access materials related to the synodal process in these different languages.
Contact your local parish to participate in a listening session.
For more news articles about the local synod process, click here.
Featured image: The official logo for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Originally scheduled for 2022, the synod will take place in October 2023 to allow for broader consultation at the diocesan, national and regional levels. (CNS photo/courtesy Synod of Bishops)
