SYNOD 2021 - 2023: The Journey Begins

WINTER 2022

Photo: Cardinal Dolan during an October 17 Mass launching the synod’s Diocesan Phase in New York.

THE ROAD TO ROME

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH has been holding synods – locally, regionally, and globally – for centuries. Most often, the term refers to an assembly of bishops convened by the pope to discuss policies and practices in response to earthly realities and in keeping with Christian tradition and doctrine. But Synod 2021 - 2023, themed “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission,” represents a brand-new approach. This time, the Holy Father has invited the direct participation of all Catholics in a global synod. Pope Francis wants to hear from you.

Not that all the Catholics in the world will be descending simultaneously on Rome for a giant meeting at the Vatican. But when the Assembly of Bishops convenes there in October 2023, its members will come bearing the fruits of a nine-month “listening phase” (formally called the Diocesan Phase), during which the input of everyday Catholics is being gathered for careful consideration. This initial phase of the synod process is going on right now.

The Greek word synod, meaning “meeting” or “assembly,” is formed from two smaller words that mean, essentially, “journeying together” – and for this synod, informally termed a “synod on synodality,” the focus is on the journey as much as on the destination. The road to Rome 2023 is as important as the arrival, and the results of the final meeting will be a reflection of the path that takes us there.

“Synodality is to journey together, to listen to each other,” explains Elizabeth Guevara de Gonzalez, director of adult faith formation and coordinator of the synod’s listening phase for the Archdiocese of New York. “At all synods, our bishops come together and bring what they have been hearing in their respective dioceses to help determine where the Church is being called to go. This year’s synod will be different,” she says, “because the synodal journey will occur more visibly, with our people gathering for listening sessions.”

In the words of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the pope “wants us to join him in praying, listening, discerning, examining ourselves personally, and the Church communally, to see if we’re truly on the path Jesus has set for His beloved bride, His mystical body, the Church.”

If you think this doesn’t involve you, think again. In April 2021, announcing plans for the synod, Pope Francis specified, “Every one of the baptized should feel involved in the ecclesial and social change that we so greatly need.” Casting a wide net, the Vatican’s official handbook for the listening phase, the Vademecum for the Synod on Synodality, specifies, “Special care should be taken to involve those persons who may risk being excluded: women, the handicapped, refugees, migrants, the elderly, people who live in poverty....” Nobody is to be left on the roadside.

The purpose of this synod, according to the Vademecum, is as ambitious as its scope is inclusive: “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. … This synodal process is a journey of growing authentically toward the communion and mission that God calls the Church to live out in the third millennium.”

While this may seem too lofty a mission to be embarked on from humble parish halls and meeting rooms, that apparent mismatch is integral to the goal. This synodal “journey together” starts not in magnificent cathedrals but on the dusty pathways of our everyday lives.

Parishioners should watch for an announcement from their parish leadership or inquire at their parish office about opportunities to participate. In the Archdiocese of New York, listening sessions will be conducted this spring. Following the end of the Diocesan Phase in September 2022, a subsequent Continental Phase will allow bishops in seven continental regions to assemble the ideas generated in the dioceses and archdioceses and prepare for the October 2023 Assembly of Bishops in Rome.

Guevara de Gonzalez encourages all to join the synodal journey. “Every person who shares is taking part in this time of discernment for our Church,” she says. “Our Holy Father wants us all to be involved – rich and poor, those in parish groups and those of us who only attend Mass on Christmas and Easter.”

While the listening phase’s exchange of diverse ideas and experiences may ultimately lead to transformations in the Church (not in essential doctrine, but rather in the way the Church carries out its mission), the first and most fundamental effects of Synod 2021 - 2023 will likely be in the process of synodality itself. By emphasizing the journey together and resolving to hear the voices of all Catholics, the Church seeks to enact more completely the message of Christ: that He came to save every soul and that all are welcome in our Church.

For all the novelty of the term synodality, Msgr. Joseph P. LaMorte, vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Archdiocese of New York, reassures us that the underlying concept has long been part of Church practice. “During my 40 years of priesthood, mostly in parish settings, I have always relied upon the counsel of parishioners, often through groups like pastoral and finance councils, to guide decisions and planning,” he observes. “This process of examination, discernment, and keen listening, along with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is the very definition of synodality – and we never knew we were doing it.”

“The hope is that the experience of the Synodal Process will bring about a new springtime for listening, discernment, dialogue, and decision-making,” the Vademecum states, “so that the whole People of God can better journey together with one another and the entire human family, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.”

“Let us have a good journey together!” Pope Francis said in his October 10 homily. “May we be pilgrims in love with the Gospel and open to the surprises of the Spirit.”  

For more about the history of synods in the Church, see “Ask a Priest: What is a Synod?” 
For more about the diocesan phase of Synod 2021 - 2023 in the Archdiocese of New York, visit archny.org/synod/.