Synod report calls for co-responsibility in ministry; ‘we [clergy and laity] are all the Church’ 

The Continental Stage of the Synod concluded as bishops from the U.S. and Canada submitted their final document in response to Pope Francis’ request to embrace synodality as the way forward for the Church in the modern world. One local official, however, said she had hoped for more details listed in the report on issues such as women and youth. 

“North American Final Document for the Continental Stage of the 2021-2024 Synod: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission” was compiled by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). The document was sent to Rome March 31. 

Begun in late 2022, the Continental Stage of the Synod was the second stage of the three-year process initiated by Pope Francis in October 2021. For the North American Continental Stage, the United States and Canada held 12 virtual assemblies: seven in English, three in Spanish, and two in French between December 2022 and January 2023. In total, 931 delegates and 146 bishops from Canada and the United States were appointed to participate in one of the12 assemblies to share their reflections and responses to the Document for the Continental Stage (DCS) issued by the Holy See’s General Secretariat of the Synod in October 2022. The reflections were brought together by the North American Writing Team to create the newly released final document, said USCCB and CCCB officials calling the document “significant.” 

For the Archdiocese of Newark, its representatives for Continental Stage of the Synod were Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., its four auxiliary bishops – Bishop Elias Lorenzo, O.S.B, Bishop Gregory Studerus, Bishop Manuel Cruz, D.D., and Bishop Michael Saporito, Deacon Asterio Velasco, director of the Archdiocese of Newark’s Hispanic Ministry, synod coordinator Sister Donna L. Ciangio, O.P., chancellor of the Archdiocese of Newark, and five lay delegates from various counties. 

“This document is, among other things, a testament to the work of the Spirit within the communion of the baptized, whose voices have a unique dignity. It also explores those areas where we must turn our attention as we continue cultivating a more synodal Church in Canada and the United States”, wrote Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville and Chair USCCB Committee on Doctrine and Bishop Raymond Poisson of Saint-Jérôme-Mont-Laurier and President, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) in their introduction to the report. 

Sister Donna, who helped lead the archdiocesan Synod efforts, said that although the Continental Document reflects a lot of what was in the Archdiocese of Newark’s Synod report released last August, she had expected that more specific details on some issues would have been included. 

She said some areas listed in the Continental report were broad and lacked specifics regarding areas that participants listed consistently in many of the reports used to compile the Continental Report including the Archdiocese of Newark’s.  

“I would have liked to see more specifics included on topics listed in the report such as women in the Church, youth and young adults, and faith formation,” Sister Donna said.  

According to the document, the Church of North America calls for “co-responsibility” in ministry and that the result of the Synod was the realization “we are all the Church” — laity and clergy.  

“We are called to act co-responsibly in a synodal fashion, not to wait until we know how to do everything perfectly, but to walk together as imperfect people,” one session concluded. “When Church structures and practices are dynamic and able to move with the Holy Spirit, everyone is able to ‘use their gifts in service of the Church and of each other’” the document states.           

Ministry is not just for priests, the document states, but for each baptized person.  

“This is a real space where we can allow women and some of the more marginalized folks in the Church to really take up leadership roles,” according to one of the group reports. 

Delegates also named women as a marginalized group in the Church. “We have come a long way, but we deplore the fact that women cannot invest themselves fully,” one session wrote. But the report concludes that the Church in North America was encouraged to “recognize, discern, and promote the role of women . . . so that they may have a greater presence in the Church.” What those roles will be — decision-making roles, leadership, and ordination — should be examined in the future, the report stated.  

Many delegates during the sessions lamented the absence of young people both in their parishes and in the Continental Assembly, according to the report.  

“We are concerned that young people are not at the table and we wonder how they are going to be represented in Rome. They know their reality the best,” the report reads, adding that the gifts of young people are not always fully appreciated by older generations.  

Trust and credibility within the Church were also touched upon: “A significant threat to communion within the Church is a lack of trust, especially between the bishops and the laity, but also between the clergy in general and the lay faithful,” according to the document. “One of the major areas of tension in North America is the clergy sexual abuse crisis and its effects, which have created a loss of trust that cannot be overstated.”  

The document acknowledges that although Church leaders have “done much” to promote healing and prevent future abuses, it is “apparent” that more needs to be done to rebuild trust. As one delegate commented, “There are different levels and degrees of engagement within the Church as an institution, but it has to start with healing and trust-building.”  

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 — feel unwelcome in the Church.  

“While the reasons for experiencing the Church as inhospitable may vary, what is common is the Church’s need to authentically honor the baptismal dignity of everyone,” according to the document. 

 “There is a need to differentiate between the importance of teaching and the need to welcome those into the Church, especially as it relates to our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters,” one session wrote. 

Noted was the suffering, especially by Catholics who are divorced and remarried without an annulment, from being prevented from taking the Eucharist was reported by some Synod participants.  

Delegates also expressed a desire for life-long faith formation offered to all whatever their vocation. This includes not only formation in the fundamental teachings of our faith, but also formation for synodality, co-responsibility, welcoming, and going out to the peripheries.  

“A deeper formation allows us to present the beauty of our faith, rather than a list of rules. To go deeper and underneath it and be formed in a way that allows us to present the hows and whys,” one delegate wrote. 

The report states that during the final meeting, the bishops observed that “We need to do more with our people – listen to them more to aid our discernment; sit down with them and discuss the religious life in the diocese. We cannot just sit in the office and make important decisions by ourselves.” 

They set five goals for the Synod in Rome this fall, according to the document: 

• Integration of synodal consultation in the local Churches- Much work remains to be done to integrate the synodal style of consultation at the level of the local Churches, as well as at the national and continental levels, to increase participation and reach many in our communities who have not yet even heard of synodality.  
• The challenge of welcoming those who feel excluded from participation in the life of the Church in a manner that is authentic and faithful to the Gospel and the Catholic faith weighs heavily on the hearts of our people – This tension in individuals and in communities was spoken of often.  The new complexity of issues before us requires discernment because it implies both new pastoral initiatives and fidelity to the kerygma that we are to announce publicly.  
• Co-responsibility – The theme of co-responsibility also touches the frequently raised issue of shared decision-making and the desire for more transparency in Church governance.  
• Addressing the unity and communion of the Church amid various kinds of polarization and division – Discernment is needed so that local Churches are better able to promote the ecclesiology of communion, rooted in baptism and nourished by the Eucharistic sacrifice. These must be seen as primary sources of our identity and unity as the People of God, and prior to any racial, ethnic, social, economic, political, or ideological differences. This is a challenge for our immediate future.  
• A Church that goes out to the peripheries – Our people speak often of having heard the call of Pope Francis to go out credibly to the margins. It is vital that the local Churches hear the call to assist the needs of the poor and marginalized churches around the world. This is a concern of the whole Church and should be articulated with greater urgency on the level of the Universal Church.  

The Final Document from North America, along with the contributions of the six other Continental Assemblies, will form the basis of the Instrumentum Laboris to be released by the General Secretariat of the Synod in June.  

Cardinal Joseph Tobin, C.Ss.R. in his recent newsletter Rejoice in the Lord writes “For Pope Francis, the primary goal of synodality as a way of ‘being Church’ is not doctrinal or political. It’s not even pastoral in the narrow sense of Church structures or programs. ‘Listening to Christ often takes place in listening to our brothers and sisters in the Church,’ the Pope teaches. ‘Such mutual listening in some phases is the primary goal, but it remains always indispensable in the method and style of a synodal Church.’”  

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.