We did it! With just a few short weeks of notice and just a few weeks more to complete the task, we managed to hold three listening sessions as a part of the interim phase of the international Synod on Synodality, initiated by Pope Francis. A HUGE thank you to parishioner Katie Dorner, who, with assistance from Tom Lenz and Deacon Chris Murphy, pulled all this together! To put things in context: The USCCB issued a request in mid-February asking parishes across the country to hold listening sessions to gather feedback between the first and second meetings of the Synod Assembly in Rome. The catch? The listening sessions had to be held during Lent, and a summary report needed to be submitted to the relevant diocese before April 1. An extremely narrow timeframe. So another big thank you to Katie and to all the parishioners who attended the listening sessions! (Learn more about the Synod listening sessions here.)
The following is the summary report (verbatim) of our parish listening sessions which was submitted by Katie Dorner to the Archdiocese of Chicago on behalf of our parish. The Archdiocese will send it to the USCCB, where it will be synthesized with other reports from around the country. It will then be used by the voting members of the Synod Assembly when they meet for their closing session in Rome this October. March 2024 Synod Listening Sessions Summary Saint John XXIII – Evanston, IL Archdiocese of Chicago Dear USCCB, Saint John XXIII is a vibrant, diverse parish in Evanston, IL, just north of Chicago. Saint John XXIII is a recently merged parish of Saint Nicholas and Saint Mary’s. We gathered in person this Lent to participate in this stage of the Synod on Synodality and are happy to share our synthesis here. There were 36 total participants across three listening sessions: two in English and one in Spanish. We wish to acknowledge that this is a small sample size of our large and active parish, given the time constraints of receiving direction in February to host these during Lent. However, we hope this summary still makes a helpful contribution to this stage of the Synod. After an opening prayer and a brief presentation about the Synod, parishioners met in small groups for Conversations in the Spirit. There was a notetaker and a timekeeper in each small group. There were three rounds of sharing for the listening circles, with these questions from the Archdiocese and Synod Office to guide the rounds:
The common themes arose in the listening sessions from our discussion on co-responsibility and mission were: the need and desire for deeper listening within our local and global Church – in particular between clergy and the laity but also among laity, a call for more holistic formation of both clergy and the laity, the inclusion of women in decision making and recognition of women in ministerial leadership, and a great love and concern for both our local parish and the global Church. The need and desire for deeper listening within our local and global Church. This theme arose in almost every small group. Parishioners valued this synodal model of listening and commented on the desire to put into practice this model of listening to/with the Spirit more often. Some noted a frustration that not more members of the clergy or parish council were present for these sessions. There is a hope to have more synodal listening in our parish life in general, not solely in listening sessions. There was a call for greater transparency within our parish so that more trust can be built between parish leadership and parishioners. In addition to greater listening between clergy and laity, there was also a desire for more listening among parishioners at our newly merged parish. One parishioner said, “Artificial divisions can be broken down by listening” and another, “We must create the space to recognition beauty in diversity.” A call for more holistic formation of both clergy and the laity. Formation was another theme that came up in all three listening sessions. In terms of the laity, one parishioner commented, “Ministries need formation: we like people to participate but we don’t take the time for formation." Another parishioner shared that when the laity experience good formation, we feel co-responsible and want to live co-responsibly in the Church. In terms of clergy formation, there was a call for the “rejection of clericalism on all levels.” There was a desire for the Church leadership to know their flock in order to serve them well – to have both good theological formation and also to be attuned to the community in which they serve. The inclusion of women in decision making and recognition of women in ministerial leadership. When discussion of women in the Church came up in small groups, there was both a sense of hurt and hope. One woman parishioner shared, “If you want me to be co-responsible, make my role equal.” There was a note to not avoid the tension of power difference in our Church structure when talking about co-responsibility. There was hope shared about the Synod discussion of including women in decision making processes and the diaconate. Someone said, “What will happen when we are dust?” and the importance of empowering and encouraging young women. A great love and concern for both our local parish and the global Church. There was a palpable love and concern for our local parish and the global Church in these listening sessions. In every session, conversations sincerely brought up the guidance of the Holy Spirit in where we go from here. A concluding note from one of the groups was “We have deep concern about our Church, faith, and community” and another, “We trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us forward.” Many of the small groups brought up a specific concern for young people in the Church, and a conviction to listen to them more fervently for the vitality of our Church. There is a shared hope to “follow and apply this method of synodal listening.” We are grateful for this experience to contribute to this phase of the Synod on Synodality and entrust these hopes and yearnings of all who attended the listening sessions to be synthesized on the national level. We also uplift our parishioners who were unable to attend these sessions due to logistical conflicts. We trust You, Holy Spirit, to gather all of our spoken and unspoken prayers through this process, and in light of the Adsumus Prayer, we pray: “Teach us the way we must go, and how we are to pursue it.” Want to learn more about the Synod as a whole? Check out our Synod on Synodality series! Pope Francis wants to hear from you, me, and all of us as a part of the Synod on Synodality! And we're ready to do our part here at St. John XXIII. Join one of the conversations in Oldershaw Hall:
That's lovely... But what is the conversation? We, the everyday People of God, are at the crux of Pope Francis's international Synod on Synodality, an initiative that is looking forward to the future of the Church. Not sure what the Synod is? That's perfectly okay! The conversation will start with a brief overview before we move into the discussion phase, where the voices of all parishioners will be welcomed, heard, and valued (yes, even yours, person who isn't very familiar with Church structure/hierarchy/papal initiatives/etc.). The USCCB has asked dioceses across the country to participate in this interim stage of the Synod by discussing what it means to uphold our shared responsibility for the Church as the People of God. A summary of our discussions will be sent to the Arch, put together with other reports from around the country, and used by the Synod's closing assembly when they meet in Rome this October. It's an amazing opportunity to have your voice heard as voting assembly members (including both women and men, lay people, religious, and priests) pray and make decisions about the future of the Church. Want to learn more about the Synod on Synodality? "American dioceses will hold local synod 'listening sessions' throughout Lent 2024" | Catholic News Agency You can also read our series of articles about the Synod on Synodality assembly that met last October! We did it! Read the summary of our parish's Synod listening sessions here. The Synod Assembly in Rome this October was historic in several ways. It included lay men and women as full voting members and it carried out its discussions in small groups as well as full sessions. It unveiled a new method of discussion which it called “Conversation in the Spirit” as a way of prayerfully discerning controversial issues posed in the Synod’s agenda.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the 40-page report from this Session of the Synod is that rather than defining conclusions, it designates the important issues that need further prayerful discernment in a Synodal style over the coming 11 months until the second Synod session next October. That some of these issues have been firmly placed on the list of items to be discussed by the universal church is a significant development. The final document approved by this Session of the Synod summarizes those issues under three headings:
Read more about the Synod on Synodality: Part 1: A Synod on Synodality Part 2: Gathering Input Part 3: North American Issues Part 4: October Agenda Part 5: Questions and Expectations SJ23 Parishioner's Reflection from Rome Earlier this month, I had the incredible opportunity to journey to Rome with a delegation of young adults with Discerning Deacons. Discerning Deacons is a sponsored ministry of St Thomas More Parish in the Twin Cities, who is faithfully uplifting the living conversation and active discernment in our Church about the question of women and the diaconate. I have dear friends and mentors on staff at Discerning Deacons who asked me this summer if I might want to join them in Rome at the start of the Synodal assembly. Never having been to Italy my first thought was, “Can I get on a plane to Rome?” and soon after felt a deep yes to witness in person this extraordinary moment of our Church.
Our delegation had the joy and privilege of attending the Ecumenical Prayer Vigil and Opening Mass of the Synodal assembly, as well as witnessing to many Spirit-filled moments in between. We had the opportunity to meet several voting delegates and when we did, we asked how we might pray for them during this time. The voting members we encountered were full of excitement and anticipation, trust in the Spirit, and were grateful for our prayers! Some of the prayer intentions that delegates requested were: openness, genuine listening, and for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. At the Opening Mass, our delegation wore t-shirts designed by an artist in our group that say “En la iglesia hay un lugar para todos, todos, todos” and my heart swelled with joy in St Peter’s Square when again our dear Pope Francis spoke the words “tutti, tutti, tutti”. The Synod on Synodality is something very significant happening in Rome right now – as bishops, cardinals, priests, a deacon, women religious, and lay people including women and men, older adults and young, all gather together to pray and deliberate with their voice and vote. Synodality is, as well, a call for the entirety of our Church in whatever corner of the world we are in. A call to synodality as Pope Francis insists is to first listen. While Discerning Deacons and any one of us have particular hopes for the direction of our Church, being synodal means surrendering to not knowing particular outcomes – what a risk! what an act of faith! – and in the not knowing, putting our trust in the protagonist of the Holy Spirit. Truly trusting in the Holy Spirit as the protagonist I think frees us to listen better to the wisdom and baptismal dignity of each person, without our armor on or agendas in hand. It is what the Synod delegates are doing right now in Rome, sitting around round tables, and it is what we are invited to do here at home. We are a different, better, truer Church because of it. While in Italy, our delegation traveled by train to Assisi on the eve of the Feast of Saint Francis – very special for me as someone who loves Saint Francis! I sat before the cross where Saint Francis heard God’s invitation to him to “Rebuild my Church,” in San Damiano where Saint Francis spoke his Canticle of the Sun, and in Saint Francis’ cave in the peaceful woods of Carceri. In the stillness of the Assisi countryside, I prayed for Pope Francis, the Synod delegates, and our entire Church… and those prayers deep in my heart, beyond the places of words but within the reach of God as we pray together each Sunday. The next day, on the Feast of Saint Francis, I listened to “Laudato Si” sung in St Peter’s Square, a setting so different than the woods of Carceri, but enveloped by the same trustworthy Spirit beckoning us to listen, widen our hearts, and expand the space of our tent to todos, tutti, everyone. Praise be to you, my Lord, when we live as Church in this way. Read more about the Synod on Synodality: Part 1: A Synod on Synodality Part 2: Gathering Input Part 3: North American Issues Part 4: October Agenda Part 5: Questions and Expectations Part 6: Session 1 Final Report The Synod Assembly is currently happening in Rome to work through questions posed by the Working Document. Synod participants are alternating between general sessions and group work at tables. They began by reviewing the fundamental features of a Synodal Church, including the experience of consultation as lived by the People of God during the listening sessions of the past two years.
The Assembly is now proceeding to address the three priorities that emerged from these listening sessions: Communion, Mission and Participation. The following is a sampling of the discussion questions, quoted directly from the Working Document. Although the questions are complex, they represent key topics of discussion for the Synod members:
Even with several weeks of meetings, what can reasonably be anticipated from this first October session? Some people expect this session to produce a status report or interim statement. But perhaps the fundamental question really is, How will it lead into the second session of the Synod next year? According to the Working Document, the main objective of this Synod session will be to design a plan of study in a “synodal style” and to indicate who will be included in further discussions over the coming year. Discernment will be “completed” in the 2024 session of the Synod. As the Working Document -- effectively the agenda for the current session -- states, “The last segment of the work of the Assembly will be dedicated to discerning the paths we will continue to walk together. The Assembly will consider ways to continue reading the experience of the People of God, including through promoting the necessary in-depth theological and canonical studies . . . in service to the discernment to be completed in the second session in October 2024." Read an insider account from two American participants in the Synod, a Cardinal and a woman religious, in America Magazine by clicking here. Next time: Results from the first Synod session, published as reports and results from the Synod are released. Read more from our series about the Synod on Synodality: Part 1: A Synod on Synodality Part 2: Gathering Input Part 3: North American Issues Part 4: October Agenda Part 6: Session 1 Final Report SJ23 Parishioner's Reflection from Rome
Inputs gathered by dioceses in the United States and Canada were combined into one “North American Continental Report” which was sent to the committee preparing the agenda for the October 2023 gathering of the Synod in Rome. It was one of eight such continental reports sent from around the world. Mexico joined with the rest of Central and South America to produce their own report on behalf of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The North American continental report was developed through twelve virtual assemblies, convening in early 2023 all across the United States and Canada. There were 931 delegates to these assemblies, including 626 lay people and 305 priests and religious people. In total, women slightly outnumbered men. The reports from these assemblies were sent to the North American Synod Team, who would go on to write the final continental report. The body of the report included five North American priorities for the agenda committee to consider for the October synod at the Vatican. The following is the executive summary of those five priorities from the report itself:
Next time: The agenda of the October Synod meeting and how the issues to be discussed are stated in the Working Document. Read more from our series about the Synod on Synodality: Part 1: A Synod on Synodality Part 2: Gathering Input Part 4: October Agenda Part 5: Questions and Expectations Part 6: Session 1 Final Report SJ23 Parishioner's Reflection from Rome It is important to note that the Synod is not beginning this October. It actually began soon after Pope Francis’ Sept. 18, 2021 announcement of the Synod with the listening processes which lasted for much of 2022.
On Oct 6, 2021 Cardinal Cupich stated the following: The Holy Father is asking the universal Catholic Church to take up a journey together to reflect on the theme: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission.” Pope Francis has called this a time of “mutual listening that involves the entire People of God. But this listening is not about garnering opinions, taking a survey, but listening to the Holy Spirit, as we read in the book of Revelation: ‘Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches’ (2:7).” The first stage of the listening process was called the Diocesan Stage. Every Diocese throughout the world was charged with developing a process to involve all the Faithful in gathering issues which needed to be discussed at the Synod. This was to be done in a participative process across parishes and other institutions and take place during 2022. Reports from this process were sent to the US Episcopal Conference (the USCCB) which established a committee to develop a National Synthesis. Other Inputs came from Religious Orders of Men and Women, various institutions and advocacy groups, and interested individuals. (Some of these contributions were made through the Diocesan processes and some to the Vatican directly.) The USCCB committee studied these results and issued their summary National Synthesis report on Sept. 19, 2022. If this 11 page report could be summarized in one word, it would be inclusiveness. The report begins by pointing out that over 700,000 people participated in the listening activities in the US. It then goes on to highlight many circumstances in which the inclusion of all persons was a key area for the Synod to address. The Synthesis begins with praise for the very existence of the Synodal listening process itself: “a great appreciation for the synodal process. They [the Synod participants] were truly grateful for the opportunity to be heard and to listen, and for the spirit of openness.” This openness was seen as especially important for many groups that saw themselves as wounded or excluded. The report calls out in particular:
While this may sound like a negative list, the National Synthesis calls on the Church to extend its listening ears, helpful arms, and nonjudgemental pastoral inclusion to persons expressing these feelings and needs. The Synod, by beginning with listening, is seen as a way of beginning that process. Next time: How the US National Synthesis contributed to the North American Continental Summary sent to the Vatican Read more from our series about the Synod on Synodality: Part 1: A Synod on Synodality Part 3: North American Issues Part 4: October Agenda Part 5: Questions and Expectations Part 6: Session 1 Final Report SJ23 Parishioner's Reflection from Rome In 2021, Pope Francis called for a synod to be held in Rome starting in October 2023 with another session in October 2024. The full title of the Synod captures its theme: “The XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission.” So what exactly is a Synod on Synodality? In brief, it means that this synod is not so much about specific Church teachings as it is about the very processes by which such teachings are developed and decided upon. As the synodal preparatory document “Enlarge the Space of Your Tent” notes:
Pope Francis has invited the entire Church to reflect on the three Synod themes of Communion, Participation and Mission, insisting that “it is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.” And the USCCB says of the Synod, ”This journey, which follows in the wake of the Church’s “renewal” proposed by the Second Vatican Council, is both a gift and a task: by journeying together and reflecting together on the journey that has been made, the Church will be able to learn through Her experience which processes can help Her to live communion, to achieve participation, to open Herself to mission." The Synod on Synodality is a three-year process of listening and dialogue. Starting in early 2022, listening sessions were held in dioceses throughout the world. The listening sessions which were held throughout the world included participation by the laity, both men and women, through both surveys and live meetings. The information resulted in reports that were produced by committees convened by national and regional groups. Finally the reports were combined into “Continental Summaries” which were sent to the committee formed by Pope Francis to prepare and set the agenda for the First Synod Session beginning next month. The first session of the Synod will be held at the Vatican on October 4-29, 2023, with a second session scheduled for October 2024. Next time: A look at some of the important ideas resulting from that process, particularly those synthesized in a report by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Read more from our series about the Synod on Synodality: Part 2: Gathering Input Part 3: North American Issues Part 4: October Agenda Part 5: Questions and Expectations Part 6: Session 1 Final Report SJ23 Parishioner's Reflection from Rome SJ23 Parish-Level Listening Session Summary |
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