U.S. bishops to consider creating task force for synodal implementation

The U.S. bishops are considering the creation of a task force that would focus on the implementation of synodality within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of San Diego proposed the task force, which was supported from the floor by Cardinals Blase J. Cupich of Chicago and Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, N.J., and a subsequent voice vote of approval from the body of bishops. The job of discerning the task force was then given by the USCCB’s president, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, to the conference’s Committee on Priorities and Plans for further study.

The discussion on the floor in Baltimore followed reflections on the recent Synod of Bishops on synodality held in Rome offered by Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, two of the bishop-delegates from the United States.

Archbishop Lori, who attended the synod in Rome for the first time this past October, said that it was both “enlightening” and “challenging” to be in the same room with delegates from around the world for those weeks. He added that the length of the monthlong synod said something about synodality itself — that it is a “long-haul proposition,” which requires patience, perseverance and trust.

Conversations, he said, “were marked by prayer, by listening to the word of God and listening to one another, by discerning together how we would do our work and what the results of that work would be, and by seeking consensus in the Holy Spirit.”

The aim, he said, “was to overcome the polarization that hinders mission,” adding, “It’s only when we find unity in our diversity, and harmony in spite of disharmony that our mission proceeds.” As challenging as the synodal method can be, he added, “it has something extremely important to say to our very fragmented and divided world.”

Archbishop Lori shared that he took a side trip to Ukraine in the middle of the synod, and that the experience of listening to widows, orphans and the chaplains of the Knights of Columbus was an exercise itself in synodality.

Bishop Flores called the monthlong October event “an intense but, I think, happy month together.” In his remarks, he told the bishops that it is “necessary” to receive the document approved by Pope Francis at the end of the synod “in a spirit of” and to “study it carefully and discern its implementation.”

Sharing how Pope Francis said, at the end of the synod, decisions remain to be made, Bishop Flores said he took that to mean that, “at least in part … there are some matters recommended in the document that will have to be studied by the competent authorities and Rome before decisions are made regarding any changes in canon law.”

He shared the importance of strengthening the bonds of communion with the pope, provinces, religious, the national episcopal conferences, but also the church in North America and Latin America by “strengthening the coherent witness of the church.”

He also noted that “local discernments” will be key in implementing the document and that, while only bishops can make certain decisions, “the increased participation, collaboration and discernment with others on the way towards such decisions … are what we will need to look at and act upon as we move forward.”

Bishop Flores noted that the structures within the bishops’ conference that helped with the coordination of the diocesan and continental listening sessions are still in place and can help further future synodal practices.

Regarding the episcopal conference structure itself, Bishop Flores said that the conference’s work “will include discerning and deciding what changes and adaptations we as a conference should undertake in the light of synodality.” His recommendation to the body of bishops would be first to “decide how to understand the implications of the document as a whole, and then discern its implementation and integration.”

“I think it is clear that much theological work is needed as we go forward,” he said, including on the place of episcopal conferences in the life of the church, which was much discussed at the synod.

He also mentioned the idea of the “sensus fidelium,” asking “in what sense” can synodal assemblies “be said to offer a kind of expression of the sense of the faith?” This needs to “be thought about carefully, as it is far from a subtle question,” he said, adding that the church can lean on tradition to help develop its understanding.

He also spoke about the importance of dialogue within the church in general.

“The ability to hear each other with the patience and generosity that grace demands is a ‘habitus’ in danger of being lost in our time,” Bishop Flores said, adding that the church needs to rely on the Holy Spirit for assistance. He also asked that the bishops remember the voices expressed during the synodal process that asked that “we all be strengthened in our witness to the faith” and “at the same time … make every effort to welcome the poor, the wounded, those who struggle with our teaching, those who just want to have a chance to walk with us as they seek to discover the voice of Christ in their lives.”

“Doing both things at the same time has never been particularly easy, but in the better moments of our history, we have done this,” he said. “And with the Lord’s help, we can continue to do this. We can try better to do this.”

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