Since the Second Vatican Council ended, gatherings of the world’s bishops, called synods, have occurred in Rome.
These meetings have always dealt with a particular ecclesial theme, such as Religious Life, youth, evangelization, marriage and family, the vocation, and mission of the laity.
These discussions have enabled the bishops to reflect deeply on these important aspects of the Church’s life, offer catechetical formation to the whole Church and give pastoral inspiration and direction.
Latest synod
The next synod, called and led by Pope Francis, is entitled: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission. A fundamental difference in this synod is that the Holy Father has asked for consultation and conversation in every local diocese, as the initial phase, beginning this month and ending in April of next year.
As the document reads, “The purpose of the first phase of the synodal journey is to foster a broad consultation process in order to gather the wealth of the experiences of lived synodality, in its different articulations and facets, involving the Pastors and the Faithful of the particular Churches at all the different levels, through the most appropriate means according to the specific local realities.”
The fundamental question guiding this consultation is as follows: What steps does the Holy Spirit invite us to take as a local Church in order to make our preaching of the Gospel more effective?
This question, of course, is very broad, so there are 10 accompanying themes to help focus reflection and conversation around the fundamental mission of the Church, which is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.
I was part of two diocesan synods in Milwaukee and Gary; both focused on the pastoral impulse and guided by the question: How can we better live out the Catholic faith by strengthening every aspect of Church life, including evangelization, parishes, vocations, schools, marriage and family, youth ministry, catechesis, social outreach and service, and stewardship?
These synods, which created written plans, are still both being implemented, and have borne fruit in a reanimation of parish life and pastoral action.
Embracing dynamics
Here in our Diocese of Madison, we have already embraced many of the dynamics which this synod process calls for.
Our Go Make Disciples evangelizing initiative is already engaging parish leadership and lay faithful to critically think how their local community can better live the mission of the Church.
Pastors, staff, and evangelization teams are currently formulating written plans for Phase II, which seeks to engage the broader parish in the essential task of proclaiming and witnessing to the power of the Gospel.
This fall, we will be inviting everyone to respond to a survey from the Catholic Leadership Institute, called the Disciple Maker Index.
This tool asks each individual Catholic to answer questions relative to beliefs, practices, attitudes, and actions related to their Catholic Faith.
This data will help us to better know the faith, needs, hopes, and difficulties of our people, and gives us a snapshot of current spiritual practice.
Additionally, we are conducting Rural Life listening sessions in each county, led by Tom Nelson, who is in charge of our Rural Life Ministry, to give a platform for our people on farms and in small towns to share their particular hopes, needs, and difficulties and how the Church can respond.
The V Encuentro was a long process, undertaken by the Hispanic Catholic community, to consult the laity, in order to better know their experience and needs and to organize and strengthen pastoral initiatives.
The fruit of the Encuentro is the creation of a diocesan Hispanic Ministry office and the hire of Lorianne Aubut as its director. She and I will be holding regional gatherings of Hispanic Catholics throughout the diocese, to celebrate Mass and have conversation about the development of the Encuentro plan.
As you can see, much consultation has already occurred and will continue into the future.
Moments of conversation
Regarding the next synod, three specific moments of conversation will happen.
The Presbyteral Council, composed of representative priests throughout the diocese, will discuss these themes at their next meeting as will the Diocesan Pastoral Council, which is composed of representative laity.
These consultative bodies exist precisely for a purpose such as this. In addition, I will celebrate a special Mass in January, to be followed by a general session, open to the faithful throughout the diocese.
Table leaders will facilitate the discussion and take minutes of the conversation. We will be asking people to register for this event so that we can make appropriate plans and send out materials in advance.
Stay tuned for the details of this event. I have asked Dr. Chris McAtee, who serves on our diocesan staff, to lead and organize this effort.
The fruit of all of this conversation will be synthesized and forwarded to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which in turn will forward their synthesis to Rome.
I trust and pray these dialogical processes will be helpful for us to live out with greater fervor and knowledge the evangelizing impulse of Go Make Disciples so that every person in our diocese will come to know Jesus Christ and find life and salvation in Him.