Synod listening sessions express gratitude and concerns of diverse individuals and communities
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Pope Francis has issued an invitation to the whole Church to gather and listen to the Holy Spirit in prayer, sharing, and discernment to forge a way forward for the twenty-first century. In particular, he has invited all into a process of Synodality, a way of being Church that humbly seeks to understand what the Spirit is saying to us today. One of the goals of synodality is to find ways to connect the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, to people’s everyday lives. All the information culled from this discernment process will be summarized and shared in ecclesiastical regions, continents, and ultimately with the Synod on Synodality in Rome in October 2023.
The people of our local Church responded enthusiastically and generously to the invitation to participate in listening sessions held through the Archdiocese earlier this year to aid in preparation for the Synod on Synodality 2023. Parishioners, families, marginalized persons, parents, catechists, and many others expressed appreciation to Pope Francis for the opportunity to dialogue, discern and be heard. A great diversity of people participated. Persons from many different cultures, ethnic backgrounds, age groups, and languages joined together in prayer and small groups to listen to each other and discern how the Holy Spirit is calling us to be the Church, the Body of Christ, reaching out to the world. I regret that the Archdiocese could not arrange listening sessions with persons of other Christian churches and different religions.
When I first arrived in the Archdiocese in 2017, I held town hall meetings in each of the 27 deaneries and heard many concerns. The synod consultation process provided the Archdiocese with a new opportunity, not only for the prayer, dialogue and discernment called for by Pope Francis, but also a way to think concretely about how to address issues on the local level. A goal for the synod listening sessions was to reach as many people as possible throughout the Archdiocese. As the Archdiocesan planning team began to organize the diocesan consultations, they provided information sessions so that everyone could learn about the Synod and ways they could participate. It was hoped that parish pastoral councils, with some additional training, could facilitate the listening sessions in their respective parishes. This was very effective in gaining participation from a significant number of people. In places that did not have functioning pastoral councils, other leaders were called upon to facilitate the listening sessions.
The coordinators were concerned that the Covid 19 pandemic would inhibit the consultation process and that the faithful might not participate in person, which was the ideal. However, the response was wonderful: a remarkable number of people eagerly took part in prayer, listening and efforts to discern what the Holy Spirit is calling us to in the twenty-first century. Along with in-person gatherings, virtual sessions were held to reach people unable to participate in person. Parishes and other institutions were challenged to get out of their comfort zones to connect with their members, including those estranged from the worshipping community. New experiences in online communications, social media, videotaping and other digital platforms have opened new missionary possibilities for the Archdiocese.
Over 700 listening sessions were held; most were in-person gatherings and some online. About 33 parishes developed their own online surveys to attempt to reach a larger number of people who do not participate in parish life. More than 3,000 pages of reports in English were received, and 1,500 pages in Spanish. In total, the voices of more than 15,000 people were heard.
Continue reading Cardinal Joseph Tobin’s latest newsletter in English or Spanish.
