US synod concerned by division between laity and bishops

Thursday, September 22nd, 2022

A report on the 10-month US synod process has highlighted that Catholics are hurting from clergy abuse cases, and seek a church focused on lifelong spiritual, pastoral and catechetical formation as disciples.

Participants were also concerned about the division between US Catholics and their bishops.

They voiced a need for a welcoming church of “lived reality” for LGBTQ+ and laypeople rather than prioritising rules and regulations.

The report released on 19 September by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops was prepared in advance of the Synod of Bishops called by Pope Francis with the theme – “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission”.

More than 700,000 participants joined listening sessions. The report said the documents “represent over 22,000 reports from individual parishes and other groups” that emerged from more than 30,000 opportunities to join the synodal process.

“The listening is an opening movement toward a wise discernment locally, regionally and nationally about what our deepest concerns, our deepest hopes are right now at this moment in time,” Bishop Daniel E Flores (pictured) of Brownsville, Texas, who oversees the US synodal process.

Bishop Flores said the process of producing the 16-page synthesis report sent to the Vatican enabled people to respectfully listen to each other and develop a new understanding of what life in the church can be.

“It’s an important step that gives us an experience as a local church,” Bishop Flores said. “That’s why I think it’s always important to see that this is a seed that is planted and has a chance to grow. I think that’s what the Holy Father is asking for us.”

In a letter introducing the report, Bishop Flores described the document as “an attempt to synthesise and contextualise the common joys, hopes and wounds called forth with the help of the Holy Spirit in the unfolding of the synod”.

“While not a complete articulation of the many topics and perspectives shared in the listening process, this synthesis is an attempt to express the broader themes that seemed most prevalent in the dioceses and regions of our country,” he wrote.

“The synodal consultations around the enduring wounds caused by the clergy sexual abuse scandal, the pandemic, polarisation and marginalisation have exposed a deep hunger for healing and the strong desire for communion, community and a sense of belonging and being united,” the national synthesis report said.

The next phase is to prepare a second draft for the Synod of Bishops in October 2023. The final document will be how synodality can be practised throughout the church.