Synod

“In the weeks ahead, the Diocese Synod Team will connect with ACCs, parishes, schools, ministries and organizations to initiate consultations of the people, sharing resources and tools to help get started.”

With the Spirit’s inspiration, the two years of preparation leading to the Synod of Bishops on synodality called by Pope Francis for October 2023 will provide the framework for what the pope envisions as a synodal church — one in which people are “walking together on the same road” to respond to God’s call to serve one another.

Catholic Church officials say they are not surprised by the 2020 U.S. census showing Hispanics accounted for 51.1% of the country’s growth, rising to 18.7%, or about 62.1 million, of the U.S. population.

A new version of the Click to Pray 2.0 app, available for iOS and Android phones, encourages prayers for the Synod of Bishops. The app is an initiative of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.

Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the 75-year-old apostolic nuncio to the United States, said when he met Pope Francis at the Vatican Sept. 6, the pope asked him to remain in his post instead of retiring.

A synod calls on everyone to become experts in “the art of encounter” in a way that is uplifting and transformative, Pope Francis said, formally opening the process leading up to the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2023.

While a Synod of Bishops is not a parliament and its preparatory process is not “an opinion poll,” Pope Francis insisted that involving as many people as possible in the process and prayerfully listening to all of them is the only way to recognize the call of the Holy Spirit.

On May 21, Pope Francis surprised the Church by announcing that the Synod of Bishops postponed due to the pandemic will be preceded by a synodal process that includes “listening to all of the baptized” in every local diocese before the bishops gather again in 2023.