Are You One of 700,000?

If you took part in a Synod Listening Session you are. That’s the estimated number of people throughout the United States who did, according to the national summary that the US bishops issued this week. It’s more than 1% of US Catholics.

And as the parish reports have now found their way into diocesan summaries, and those summaries have found their way into the national summary, I’m finding they continue to echo the main feelings and concerns that we heard in our parishes’ listening sessions. The concerns for a more welcoming, inclusive church, for a greater place for women,etc. are being echoed now in the US summary. If you would like to read the 16-page summary you can find it here.

The next step is for representatives from the US and Canada to prepare a continental summary for North America. Continental summaries will be sent to the Vatican in late winter of ’23 to prepare the materials the bishops of the world will use for discussions in October.

So let’s continue to pray and continue to listen, that we might more and more become a synodal church.