SYNOD 2023 - For a Synodal Church
Communion, Participation, Mission

A synod is an ecclesial assembly convoked---depending upon its geographic scope---by the Pope or Bishop(s) to provide consultation and input on questions put to the synod by those leaders.  Synods were held in the ancient Church.  They can take place at the diocesan, provincial, regional, or universal level of the Church. In 1965 Pope Paul VI made the Synods of Bishops a permanent institution to provide counsel to the Pope in governing the Church.   

The word synod comes from two Greek words syn (together) and hodos (way) meaning “journeying together.” The concept of synods, or synodality, recognizes that as we journey together along the way to the Kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit works through all the baptized. Synods are a form of that journeying together by which Church leaders are called to discern what the Spirit is saying to the Church, not by themselves alone, but by listening to the People of God, testing everything and retaining what is good (Synod Preparatory Document, 14). 

What have previous synods focused upon?  Since the close of the Second Vatican Council in 1965 there have been fifteen ordinary synods (generally every three or four years) and three extraordinary synods (those called by the Holy Father for particularly pressing needs).  Each synod focuses on a particular topic selected by the Pope.   

The topics of the previous fifteen ordinary synods have been: 

1967 Preserving and Strengthening the Faith 

1971 Priesthood and Justice 

1974 Evangelization 

1977 Catechesis 

1980 The Christian Family 

1983 Penance and Reconciliation 

1987 The Vocation of the Laity 

1990 The Formation of Priests 

1994 The Consecrated Life 

2001 The Episcopy 

2005 The Eucharist 

2008 The Word of God 

2012 The New Evangelization 

2015 The Vocation and Mission of the Family 

2018 Young People, Faith & Vocational Discernment 

The topics of the Extraordinary Synods have been: 

1969 Cooperation between the Holy See and Episcopal Conferences 

1985 The Twentieth Anniversary of Vatican II 

2014 The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization 

The topic for the XVI Ordinary Synod in 2023 for which Pope Francis seeks input is “For a Synodal Church, Communion, Participation and Mission.”  While Pope Francis sees synodality as defining the form, style and structure of the Church, synods do not imply “the assumption within the Church of the dynamics of democracy” (Synod Preparatory Document, 14).  Rather, synods, at the heart of a hierarchically structured community, are consultative assemblies in which “the whole community, in the free and rich diversity of its members, is called together to pray, listen analyze, dialog, discern and offer advice on taking pastoral decisions as closely as possible to God’s will” (Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church, International Theological Commission, 67-69).  Synodality provides essential input to those to whom the governance of the various levels of the Church from the Vatican to your local parish is entrusted.  

What are we in the Diocese of Worcester doing to gather input for the 2023 Synod? Our diocese will, by various means, seek input from the faithful through our parishes, religious communities and groups across and at the peripheries of our diocese.  This is not a Diocesan Synod but a consultative process by which we seek broad input for the bishops who will gather in Rome in 2023.  We seek input on people's experience of past and current consultative processes and hopes for future efforts of journeying together to further the mission of the Kingdom of God in the challenging times we face together.  We are also seeking input for the three-year National Eucharistic Revival previously planned for Dioceses in the United States which begins in the  Spring of 2022.  Finally, we are seeking input for ongoing evangelization efforts in our own Diocese. 

The Synod preparatory documents acknowledge the difficulties of convening consultative groups in the time of a pandemic.  We will not be convening a large Diocesan wide gathering but will ask each parish to solicit input through means each pastor judges most effective given parish circumstances and capabilities.  Those means can include physical or virtual gathering(s) or surveys of parishioners.  The Diocese will also be coordinating outreach to the peripheries to offer an opportunity for those who might not presently be regularly associated with a parish to provide input.

In announcing the Gospel, the Church journeys together with all the people of God.  We seek broad input into the question of how “journeying together” has been happening in our Diocese and what steps the Holy Spirit invites us to take to grow in our journeying together as we strive to carry out the mission entrust to the Church to make disciples of all nations. 

Background.  To re-familiarize you with some of our past consultative efforts, this summary of more recent consultative efforts on major diocesan efforts or more routine reviews may be helpful. 

1. Pastoral Planning.  Since 2000 through mergers, consolidations and closings we have reduced our number of parishes from 127 to 97.  Before those steps took place, Bishop Reilly asked clergy and lay representatives of every parish to meet with representatives of neighboring parishes to establish collaborative ways of ministering to the people in their parishes.  A Diocesan Parish Planning Committee consisting of Bishop Reilly and then Bishop McManus, together with pastors, lay leaders and Chancery staff was established to seek input from parishes and, with the pastors, recruited, trained and facilitated meetings with parish councils, parish finance committees and parish representatives to determine the best way of fulfilling their mission.  Seventy-six parishes from across our Diocese have been actively involved in parish planning since the original clustering effort.  Another eight parishes are currently involved in pastoral planning. 

2. Youth Ministry:  In 2009 a Youth Ministry Task Force was commissioned by Bishop McManus to investigate and make recommendations concerning the status of youth ministry throughout the diocese. A survey was utilized to gather input from all pastoral staff and parish leadership, including those involved in youth ministry and religious education. The goal was to seek ways to improve the effectiveness in reaching out to young people, recognizing that it is their spiritual well being that brings enthusiasm and energy to the life and mission of the Church. 

3. Improving Communications through the Diocese: In 2016 the Office of Communications conducted a survey open to any parishioners in the diocese via The Catholic Free Press and online via invitation in parish bulletins. More than 800 responses were received from both instruments and served as the basis for the development of today’s Communications Ministry which encompasses parishes, schools and the diocese. 

4. Capital Campaign.  Prior to committing to the $32 million Legacy of Hope Capital Campaign, Bishop McManus convened a committee of pastors and lay people from our Diocese to review the possibility of a capital campaign.  Bishop McManus accepted the committee’s recommendations about proceeding with a feasibility study, the designation of a firm to conduct that study and later to conduct the appeal.  Prior to deciding to embark upon the Legacy of Hope Captial Campaign, personal meetings were held with pastors, religious and laypersons from across the Diocese and input was sought from anyone interested by means of an online survey at the Diocesan Planning Study link of the Diocesan website.  Input from those interviews, i.e. the above-mentioned survey, a Pastor Advisory Committee, the Diocesan Finance Council and the Presbyteral Council, was essential in Bishop McManus’ decision to undertake the Legacy of Hope and to determine the uses of the funds raised.  On the parish level, pastors, by various means, sought input from their parishioners to determine the parish case statements and uses for which funds would be raised. 

5. Survey of Diocesan Departments and Programs.  In 2015 an evaluation of Diocesan Departments, Boards and Programs was undertaken by means of a 31-page survey that Bishop McManus asked parishes to complete after consultation among pastors, associate pastors, deacons, lay parish staff as well as Parish Councils and Finance Committees.  The survey followed four listening sessions that Bishop McManus held with diocesan priests in the Fall of 2014.   
6. Input for the Synod on Young People. In 2017 The Office for Youth and young Adult Ministry together with the Office of Religious Education invited input form youth and young adults to provide a diocesan response to the process in preparation for the SYnod in ROme. Hundreds of people provided inut on questions ranging from the CHurch at Large to their own participation in the Church.

7. Input for Synod on the Family.  During the Year of the Family, the Diocese invited all parishioners to respond to online questions put forth in preparation of the Bishops 2014 Extraordinary and 2015 Ordinary Synods on the Family.  Seven hundred responses from our parishioners were summarized and forwarded to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to be incorporated into the responses sent to Rome from the United States. 

8. School Consolidations.  Prior to the merging of Saint Peter-Marian and Holy Name High Schools, an ad hoc committee, consisting of Catholic Schools Office officials, representatives from the Catholic School Board and the lay leadership of the Diocesan Finance Committee met to study the future of the two schools which had been suffering from declining enrollment.  The committee carefully examined the mission, trends, budgets, the physical condition of the schools before making its recommendation to close one of the campuses and create a new combined Saint Paul Diocesan High School. A separate committee examined Saint Bernard High School in Fitchburg which had also been struggling with enrollment declines and budgetary shortfalls.  While the committee was prepared to recommend the closing of Saint Bernard’s, a group of lay parents and St. Bernard alumni appealed to take over the school and continue its operations as a Catholic school, independent of the Diocese.  Bishop McManus, Superintendent of Schools Perda, and Diocesan Finance officials met numerous times with the parent group and agreed to lease the school property (for $1) to the group for its operation of the Fitchburg school. 

9.  Each parish has a Finance Council and many have a Parish Council that seek input from parishes to formulate recommendations for pastors on parish operations, budgets, programs and projects.