CHARLOTTE — A Mass to open the Synod on Synodality for the local Church, originally scheduled for Oct. 17 at St. Patrick Cathedral, is being postponed, Bishop Peter Jugis has announced. A new date has not yet been determined.
The diocesan synod is a component of the worldwide invitation to all the faithful given by Pope Francis and is the first phase of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, whose theme is “For a Synodal Church: communion, participation and mission.” Its purpose? To listen and consult with the People of God about envisioning the future of the Church.
Synodality is “nothing new,” according to Dr. Jessica Murdoch, associate professor fundamental and dogmatic theology at Villanova University. “What the synod is, practically speaking, is an advisory panel. It is a body which gives the pope a way of discussing the issues of the day, and receiving feedback and advice from the episcopacy,” she said.
Pope Francis has asked for the discussion to rise from local churches to dioceses to bishops and episcopal conferences.
The Vatican issued a preparatory document and a “handbook” for dioceses Sept. 7 as part of the global Church’s preparation for the 2023 assembly.
“Pope Francis invites the entire Church to reflect on a theme that is decisive for its life and mission: ‘It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium,’” the document says.
The preparatory document and its questions are “at the service of the synodal journey, especially as a tool to facilitate the first phase of listening to and consulting the People of God in the particular churches in the hope of helping to set in motion the ideas, energy and creativity of all those who will take part in the journey, and to make it easier to share the fruits of their efforts,” it says.
“The purpose of this synod is not to produce more documents. Rather, it is intended to inspire people to dream about the Church we are called to be, to make people’s hopes flourish, to stimulate trust, to bind up wounds, to weave new and deeper relationships, to learn from one another, to build bridges, to enlighten minds, warm hearts and restore strength to our hands for our common mission,” the document notes.
The handbook, or “vademecum,” offers guidelines for bishops and those helping facilitate the synodal process locally on how they can best listen to and consult with Catholics and the wider community – particularly those on the margins of society, other Christians as well as non-Christians.
Pope Francis formally opened the synod process at the Vatican Oct. 9-10. (Read more below.)
The first phase of the synod consists of sessions on “Listening and Discernment in Local Churches,” taking place until April 2022 in dioceses and bishops’ conferences.
Surveys and listening sessions are among the possible tools dioceses can use to gather feedback from parishioners. That feedback will be compiled into a “synthesis” after each gathering, followed by a synthesis written for each diocese and ultimately for each bishops’ conference.
Bishops’ conferences and the synods of the Eastern Churches will provide a synthesis of all their local feedback to the Synod of Bishops, and all of that material will be the basis for the writing of two working documents. Bishops and auditors will then gather with Pope Francis at the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome in October 2023 to speak and listen to one another on the basis of the process that began at the local level.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter. Catholic News Service and Catholic News Agency contributed.
By listening to Holy Spirit, synod can be process of healing, pope says
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By listening to Holy Spirit, synod can be process of healing, pope says
VATICAN CITY — A synod calls on everyone to become experts in "the art of encounter" in a way that is uplifting and transformative, Pope Francis said, formally opening the process leading up to the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2023."Celebrating a synod means walking on the same road, together" just like Jesus did -- encountering, listening and discerning with all who one meets, the pope said in his homily at the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica Oct. 10.
"Are we prepared for the adventure of this journey? Or are we fearful of the unknown, preferring to take refuge in the usual excuses: 'It's useless' or 'We've always done it this way?'" he asked.
Some 3,000 people attended the Mass, including the 270 people -- cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and laypeople -- invited to the day of reflection in the Vatican Synod Hall Oct. 9.
The weekend of events began the "synodal journey," which will explore the theme, "For a synodal church: communion, participation and mission."
In his homily, the pope said they should begin the synodal process "by asking ourselves -- all of us, pope, bishops, priests, religious and laity -- whether we, the Christian community, embody this 'style' of God, who travels the paths of history and shares in the life of humanity."
The day's Gospel reading (Mk 10:17-30) of Jesus setting out on a journey and encountering a rich man offers just one example of how Jesus "walks alongside people and listens to the questions and concerns lurking in their hearts," he said. "He shows us that God is not found in neat and orderly places, distant from reality, but walks ever at our side."
Celebrating a synod, he said, means walking on the same road as others and living out the "three verbs" that characterize a synod: to encounter, listen and discern.
"We too are called to become experts in the art of encounter. Not so much by organizing events or theorizing about problems as in taking time to encounter the Lord and one another," to devote time to prayer and adoration, and to listen to what the Holy Spirit wants to say to the church, the pope said.
Jesus shows that an encounter has the power to change someone's life -- "the Gospel is full of such encounters with Christ, encounters that uplift and bring healing," the pope said. In fact, Jesus was never in a hurry, and he would never have looked at a watch to signal it was time to wrap things up. "He was always at the service of people he met in order to listen to them."
Each encounter requires "openness, courage and a willingness to let ourselves be challenged by the presence and the stories of others," the pope said. It means not hiding behind a facade or stiff formalities indicative of a spirit of clericalism or of courtiers, but it means being a father.
To that end, the pope said he would be meeting a group of people who live on the streets later that day. He said they had already started meeting because another group of people had gone to listen to them and from there, "they have been able to begin the journey."
Sincere listening involves the heart, not just the ears, Pope Francis said. The aim is not to be able to answer people's questions, especially with pre-packaged or "artificial and shallow responses," but to provide an opportunity to tell one's story and speak freely.
"Whenever we listen with the heart, people feel that they are being heard, not judged; they feel free to recount their own experiences and their spiritual journey," he said.
Listening to one another "is a slow and perhaps tiring exercise" but it must be done, including listening to "the questions, concerns and hopes of every church, people and nation," and to the "challenges and changes" that world presents, he added.
Encountering and listening "are not ends in themselves" where everything stays the same, but must lead to discernment, he said.
"Whenever we enter into dialogue, we allow ourselves to be challenged, to advance on a journey. And in the end, we are no longer the same; we are changed," he said.
The synod is "a journey of spiritual discernment that takes place in adoration, in prayer and in dialogue with the word of God," the pope said.
Discernment is what lights the way and guides the synod, "preventing it from becoming a church convention, a study group or a political congress, but rather a grace-filled event, a process of healing guided by the Holy Spirit," Pope Francis said.
Like he asked the rich man in the Gospel reading, Jesus is asking everyone "to empty ourselves, to free ourselves from all that is worldly, including our inward-looking and outworn pastoral models, and to ask ourselves what it is that God wants to say to us in this time and the direction in which he wants to lead us," he said.
Pope Francis wished everyone "a good journey together! May we be pilgrims in love with the Gospel and open to the surprises of the Spirit."
— Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service
Pictured at top: Pope Francis gives the homily as he celebrates a Mass to open the process that will lead up to the assembly of the world Synod of Bishops in 2023, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 10. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters)
Women religious have key role in synod process, pope says
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Women religious have key role in synod process, pope says
VATICAN CITY — Women religious have an essential role in the process of creating a more synodal church and in preparations for the Synod of Bishops, not just through their prayers and participation, but also by listening to people not usually part of such church activities, Pope Francis said.
"You consecrated women are an irreplaceable presence in the great community on the move, which is the church," the pope said Oct. 11 during an audience with members of the general chapter of the Sisters of Charity of St. Jeanne-Antide Thouret.
"Consecrated women are an extension of the female presence which walked with Jesus and the Twelve, sharing the mission and making your own unique contribution," the pope said, noting that the Gospel of St. Luke even names some of the women: Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna.
As the Catholic Church takes up its commitment "to grow in synodality," he said, the Sisters of Charity and other consecrated women have an essential role.
While the Sisters of Charity have no "ready-made answers" to what they will bring to the process, which the pope launched Oct. 10, he said the theme of their general chapter provides a clue.
The theme of the gathering was "Starting afresh from Bethany, with Martha's concern and Mary's listening."
Martha and Mary, he said, were "two disciples who had a very important place in the life of Jesus and the Twelve, as we can see in the Gospels. This confirms that, first of all, as women and as baptized women, that is, as disciples of Jesus, you are a living presence in the church, participating in communion and mission."
But an added contribution comes from the "concern" and "listening" the sisters are focusing on, he said. "In particular, concern for the poor and listening to the poor. Here you are teachers. You are teachers not with words, but with deeds, with the history of so many of your sisters who have given their lives for this, in concern for and listening to the elderly, the sick, the marginalized; close to the little ones, to the least ones with the tenderness and compassion of God."
Concern and listening, he said, build up the church by helping it "walk in the way of Christ, which is the way of charity."
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY — A synod calls on everyone to become experts in "the art of encounter" in a way that is uplifting and transformative, Pope Francis said, formally opening the process leading up to the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2023.