The long-awaited Synod on Synodality has finally convened in Rome. More than 400 people gathered at the Vatican on Wednesday to officially begin the Synod on Synodality.

During the first full day of work Oct. 5, participants met in small groups of about 12 people to discuss the first part of the Instrumentum Laboris, a document that will guide discussions over the nearly monthlong assembly.

The first section, which will form the basis of synod discussions Oct. 4–7, is titled “For a Synodal Church: An Integral Experience” and has two subpoints: “The characteristic signs of a synodal Church” and “A way forward for the synodal Church: conversation in the Spirit.”

According to Cristiane Murray, the vice director of the Holy See Press Office, synod members were given “a kind of task of answering” several reflection questions based on these themes on Oct. 4.

The president of the information commission for the synod, who is also the head of Vatican communications, Paolo Ruffini, said participants “were asked to pray with these [questions] yesterday evening, night, this morning before speaking at the synod.”

The main question for discernment was: “Starting from the journey of the local Churches to which we each belong and from the contents of the Instrumentum Laboris, which distinctive signs of a synodal Church emerge with greater clarity and which deserve greater recognition or should be particularly highlighted or deepened?” Further questions were taken from this theme for prayer and reflection.

After a day off on Sunday, Oct. 8, the Synod on Synodality will reconvene Oct. 9–12 to discuss the first question under section “B” of the Instrumentum Laboris: “A communion that radiates: How can we be more fully a sign and instrument of union with God and of the unity of all humanity?”

Representatives to the synod from the United States include: The U.S.C.C.B. president, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who heads the Archdiocese for Military Services USA, will attend, and joining him will be Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Tex., who heads the conference’s doctrine committee and who has been managing the synod preparation for the bishops.

Also elected by the bishops were Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, who chairs the conference’s religious liberty committee, and Bishop Kevin Rhoades, the bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, who will take over the same committee later this year. Bishop Robert Barron, the bishop of Winona-Rochester, Minn., and the founder of the popular Catholic media enterprise Word on Fire, was also elected.

Francis’ picks included four U.S. cardinals: Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago; Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C.; Robert McElroy, the bishop of San Diego; and Sean O’Malley, archbishop of Boston. Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle and James Martin, S.J., editor at large for America and founder of Outreach, a ministry for LGBT Catholics, were also invited by the pope. (Another American, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, archbishop of Newark, will also participate in his capacity as a member of the Vatican body that plans synods.)

Francis recently updated the rules of the synod to allow lay people to vote. That lay people will not only be present, but also be able to vote, is a change to the synod structure, and represents the pope’s commitment to building a fully synodal church. For Francis, that means moving away from a top-down style of management and instead embracing voices that have not traditionally been heard in the church’s decision-making apparatus. The lay delegates include:

Cynthia Bailey Manns, the director of adult faith formation at the Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Community in Minneapolis, Minn. The parish is known for its robust social justice ministry and unique style of worship, which includes regular reflections ahead of Mass delivered by laypeople

Richard Coll, the executive director for Justice, Peace, and Integral Human Development, department at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Leticia Salazar, O.D.N., who serves as chancellor for the Diocese of San Bernardino, California, and who previously held leadership roles with her religious order and worked in Hispanic ministry.

At least two young adults representing the United States will also be attending as voting members.

Sources cited:

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255586/what-is-being-discussed-during-the-first-week-of-the-synod-on-synodality

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/07/07/americans-synod-synodality

 

The Synod being held in Rome has wrapped up its first week and has begun the work of its second week which began on Oct 9^th. The bishops and lay members will focus on the theme of "communion" and considered how the church might provide. greater welcome to all of its members. They are also called to discussion on how to improve relations with other Christian denominations.

Pope Francis has encouraged the delegates to remember that the Church should be open to todos, todos, todos (everyone, everyone, everyone). “Jesus extended this communion to all the sinners. Are we ready to do the same?" he asked at the beginning of the second week of synod meetings. "Are we ready to do this with groups which might irritate us because their way of being might seem to threaten our identity?"

The topics to be discussed this week include questions regarding ecumenism, interreligious dialogue, and ecology, among other topics. The ordination of women to the diaconate will also be discussed this week.

This phase of the synod will continue until Oct 29^th. Their discussions will be recorded. The synod has been extended to include another session in Oct 2024. Part of the reason is that long-term, the extension is intended to increase the synod's “knock-on effect” that the pope hopes to achieve in the culture of the Church as a whole. As was discussed in his Angelus address shortly after the extension was announced, he decided to extend the synod process in the hopes that it "will promote the understanding of synodality as a constitutive dimension of the Church." The pope sees the extension itself and the whole synodal path as part of his work of guiding the Church toward being more synodal, a "journey of brothers and sisters who proclaim the joy of the Gospel."  

At the end of the Oct 2024 sessions, all documentation will be sent to Pope Francis for his final judgement. Please continue to pray for this synod and the representatives to listen to the Spirit for guidance to lead the Church forward.

Excerpts from:

“Enlarging the Tent": Synod on Synodality extends its timeline and releases it guide for the Continental Stage: Part 1

NCR: Synod's second week starts with call to steer into tensions, news of four COVID infections

Sitting in St. Peter’s Square during the ecumenical prayer vigil before the Synod Assembly began, my mind buzzed with many things – plotting social media posts, worrying about a friend, wondering if public transportation would be crowded after the service. I caught myself and took a breath, hoping to calm the hum of my brain and become more present. I didn’t want to miss the moment. As the heavenly sound of Taizé chant softened into a time of silent prayer, I felt my restless heart praying, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

Spaciousness arose in me, and almost immediately, I sensed God saying, “I’m listening, too.” I didn’t hear the words aloud, but they were clear as day. I exhaled in wonder, overcome by the palpable closeness of this Listening God. As thousands of people prayed, united in pregnant silence right there in St. Peter’s Square, God listened deeply to each one. I imagined God’s heart opening wide and welcoming each prayer tenderly, hanging on every word and embracing every unspoken longing in a posture of availability, compassion, and love. I listened to God listening, and my heart fell to its knees.

If we are made in the image of God, then we, too, are called to be deep listeners. This is the “secret sauce” of the synodal process, and it has the potential to revolutionize the way we live as Church. Many have noted that even the furniture in the Synod room signals monumental change: round tables instead of theater-style seating. At these tables, small groups of lay and ordained people from diverse nations can truly encounter one another through a methodology of “conversations in the Spirit.” One delegate shared that the approach seems to be stretching some of the bishops and helping to soften the sense of hierarchy. As a vocation minister and Sister, it thrills me to see a modeling of communal discernment at the highest level of our Church. I know that when we surrender, the Spirit can lead us to new depths and dreams beyond our imaginations. All of this fills me with great hope!

I even dare to hope that this remarkable, global discernment process will help our Church recognize the limits we’ve placed on women’s discernment. Walking with young adults pondering their vocational paths, talking with Sisters through the years, and journeying with fellow women seminary students, I’ve borne witness to earnest, sacred listening that sometimes yields powerful calls not recognized by our Church. I know in my bones that our Listening God is also the One who calls and who longs for those calls to be liberated and fulfilled.

Our stories matter in the heart of our Listening God. Let us pray for true, Spirit-led discernment to buzz and hum at those revolutionary round tables. If Synod participants sincerely commit to imitating our Listening God as members of a #ListeningChurch, who knows what could happen?

Sister Tracy Kemme Sister Tracy Kemme, MDiv, is the vocation director for the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati and a spiritual minister at Casa de Paz.