participation

Full and active participation in the liturgy means not just silent respect but singing, too. The cantor or choir are meant to be the leaders we follow, not the soloists we watch. We are not spectators but participants in these sacred mysteries.

The worldwide Synod of Bishops convenes in Rome on Oct. 4 on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi to focus on “synodality” and understanding what it means in terms of “communion, participation and mission” in the church.

“The love for people’s Catholic faith and their Catholic identity abounds in the meetings. It’s so present, and it underlies everything,” said Julia McStravog, a theologian and co-coordinator of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ team for the continental phase of the synod.

The Philadelphia Archdiocese will hold a number of in-person and online listening sessions in the coming weeks as part of preparations for the 2023 world Synod of Bishops on synodality.

In a message for the Dec. 3 celebration of the U.N.’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the pope said that although church teaching is clear, too many men, women and children with disabilities lack spiritual care, which is “the worst form of discrimination.”

Christians are called by God to take part in the church’s mission in the world to help those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis wrote in a message for World Mission Sunday 2020.

Here are some reasons why you owe it to yourself to participate in the chrism Mass.