Pope Francis and the world’s bishops seem to have adopted Frazier Crane’s motto as a radio-station psychologist: “I’m listening.”
The idea behind the world synod, with the theme “For a Synodal Church: Community, Participation, Mission” – is for Catholics and others to journey together, listening to each other and the Holy Spirit.
The synod has already begun in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, with about two dozen parishes, plus Catholic Center staff, clergy and religious, having already gone through the process, which entails a listening session immersed in prayer.
Jenny Kraska, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference and co-leader of the archdiocesan process with Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., said the archdiocese seems to be ahead of many others in the country. She has participated in a videoconference with synod coordinators from other dioceses, and shared resources developed here with some of them. “I think we’re doing well, in comparison to other dioceses, some of which haven’t even started,” she said.
The archdiocese hopes to reach as many people as possible to assess where the church is heading and where it needs to go. “We know the church is very diverse,” she said, so the process tries to hear from people who don’t always have a chance to provide input.
Bishop Lewandowski said most parishes were waiting until after the holidays to begin the listening process. The raging pandemic hasn’t helped, so a lot of parishes will use social media and videoconferencing for the process.
He said the synod team encourages people to take part in the process in their own parish during February. Regional meetings in March, with representatives from each parish, are “meant to pull forth what was done at the parish and also gain some different perspective,” he said.
The bishop added, “We hope that because of the number of layers to this, we are able to catch everyone who wants to be heard, and nobody will be left out. Their thoughts and concerns will be included in the report” that the archdiocese will forward in June to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, for compilation and presentation to the Vatican this fall, a year before the synod will gather to meet in October 2023.
St. Matthew in Northwood and Blessed Sacrament in Baltimore are planning three listening sessions for the parishes, including one via Zoom. Father Matthew Buening, pastor, said they are inviting everyone they can and telling those people to invite others. They are especially encouraging members of the parishes’ significant LGBTQ community and ministry to join the sessions.
Grounded in prayer and Scripture, the sessions look at three key questions: What joys have people experienced with the church walking on their journey? What difficulties, obstacles and wounds have they encountered? What are their hopes and dreams moving forward?
Father Buening noted that the barque of Peter (a reference to the church as a fishing boat), like a large oceangoing ship, does not turn on a whim. One person’s opinion may not reach Pope Francis’ ears, but if enough people bring their ideas to the fore, it can make a difference.
The pastor also notes that while the pope might not hear from a person who comes to the listening session, “the person in their small group might. Why is that any less important than some huge change for this ship?”
In a time when people often don’t hear a perspective other than the ones in which they are entrenched, listening to each other is key. “We’re trying to listen to each other and hear,” Father Buening said. “The church is trying to do the same thing.”
He adds: “If our church can model and lead the way about listening to each other – even if we disagree at times – that’s the greatest gift we can offer to the world.”
If that happens, then the synod will show that when we use our ability to listen, we can better see the light of Christ.
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