Latest synod update: listening session reports under review
Easter blessings as we celebrate this beautiful season. The Acts of the Apostles is filled with energy, anticipation, hard work, and trepidation for the disciples of Jesus. The early Church leaders were building the new community of believers and had to continually ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit and each other. So, it is with our time. We are not in the easiest times, yet we call on the Holy Spirit and all believers to find the best ways to continue the mission of Christ in our time. That is what the Synod on Synodality is all about. Pope Francis has called all of us to pray, reflect and share the needs of the Church and ideas to move it forward.
Thank you for all you did to prepare and hold Listening Sessions in your parish, school, university, religious congregation, and ministry. The effort in the Archdiocese is a huge success, with hundreds of Listening Sessions by different groups and in various languages and styles.
As of now, over 100 reports have been submitted online, and more are coming in. We encourage you to send your reports if you have not already done so: https://rcan.org/synod/. We are reading and synthesizing them, and we don’t want to leave anyone out.
As you can imagine, it will take several weeks to sort through all the information. Reports coming back are filled with significant data and suggestions. It is apparent that organizers and participants put a lot of prayer and reflection into the questions posed by Pope Francis.
One consistent theme is the desire to see the parishes, ministries, and institutions of the Church grow vital for the future. Communication, faith formation, welcome and outreach, roles of women and vocations to the priesthood, religious life, and ministry were highlighted, among other areas of concern.
Again, thank you for all you have done to participate in the Synod on Synodality. There is still time to send in a report if you have not already done so.
Please visit the synod website, https://www.rcan.org/synod2023, and Jersey Catholic, our online news source, for coverage of the many synod-related events happening throughout the Archdiocese.
Featured image: The Archdiocese of Newark’s African American, African, and Caribbean Apostolate celebrated Black History Month with a special Mass and Synod listening session at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Bloomfield with Bishop Manuel A. Cruz, D.D. on Feb. 13, 2022. (Photo: Archdiocese of Newark/Julio Eduardo Herrera)
