One year into a three-year global synodal process, we should not expect hot-button issues and their promoters to vanish, nor for public disagreements among Catholics to cease.
Synod on Synodality
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
I am an abuse survivor. I believe the synod will teach the church how to listen.
By listening we all walk together. Along the route of life we must encourage forgiveness but not exoneration.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Brazilian bishop: I hope the synod will end clericalism in the church
“It is clericalism that prevents the church today from being missionary,” Bishop Cipollini said. “I have great hope that the synod on synodality can make clericalism collapse—perhaps not entirely, but at least in its major strongholds.”
Posted inFaith, Short Take
Not many Catholics care about the synod. But I’m not ready to give up on it yet.
Yes, the synod on synodality is off to a sluggish start, especially in the United States. But if we are brutally honest about what is broken in the church, we can still have a successful dialogue.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
A California bishop invited community organizers to help with the synod. So far, it’s working.
When it comes to the “Synod on Synodality” initiated by Pope Francis, Bishop Daniel E. Garcia says we don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
Posted inFaith, Your Take
‘I believe in my faith, not in the hierarchy of men’: Listening to those who have left the Catholic church behind
Readers respond to the February 2022 editorial about how the listening phase of the 2023 Synod of Bishops should listen to the views of Catholics who have left the church.
Posted inFaith, Faith and Reason
The history of synodality: It’s older than you think.
As the three-year synodal process that will culminate in the 2023 World Synod of Bishops gets underway, John W. O’Malley, S.J., offers some historical context for what synodality is all about.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Yes, the church needs to listen to former Catholics—and not just with an agenda of winning them back.
Is the church really interested in listening and learning from former Catholics? Or is it only “listening” to get them to come back to Catholicism?
Posted inFaith, News
Vatican includes women’s ordination group on synod website
The Vatican has included a group that advocates for women’s ordination on a website promoting the 2023 synod, indicating that Pope Francis wants to hear from all Catholics during the process.
Posted inEditorials, Politics & Society
Catholic leaders need to start listening to those who have left religion behind
Have the “nones” consciously rejected religion, or have religious institutions failed to involve them and respond to their needs? The only way to find out is by asking.