WASHINGTON (CNS)—Catholics across the country proceed to feel wounded by the clergy abuse crisis, seek a more welcoming church wherein their “lived reality” is prioritized over rules and regulations, and desire lifelong spiritual, pastoral and catechetical formation as disciples, in accordance with a report synthesizing the 10-month synodal process in dioceses.
Participants in the method also expressed concern that the U.S. Catholic Church is deeply divided and that an absence of unity exists among the many bishops, spoke of a desire to “accompany with authenticity” LGBTQ+ individuals and their families, and voiced hope that laypeople’s gifts can be more widely utilized in a spirit of collaboration throughout the church, the report said.
Released Sept. 19 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the report summarizes the concerns, hopes, pains and desires voiced by an estimated 700,000 participants who joined 1000’s of listening sessions and other events through the diocesan phase within the lead-up to the Synod of Bishops on synodality in October 2023.
“The listening is a gap movement toward a clever discernment locally, regionally and nationally about what our deepest concerns, our deepest hopes are without delay at this moment in time.”
There are roughly 66.8 million Catholics within the U.S., in accordance with the report, meaning greater than 1% of Catholics participated within the listening sessions.
“The listening is a gap movement toward a clever discernment locally, regionally and nationally about what our deepest concerns, our deepest hopes are without delay at this moment in time,” Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, who’s overseeing the U.S. involvement within the synodal process, told Catholic News Service.
Bishop Flores, who chairs the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine, said the method that has unfolded since October—and led to the 16-page synthesis report sent to the Vatican—enabled people to respectfully take heed to one another and develop a recent understanding of what life within the church may be.
The synod’s theme is “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.”
“It’s a crucial step that provides us an experience as an area church,” Bishop Flores said. “That’s why I feel it’s all the time vital to see that this can be a seed that’s planted and has a likelihood to grow. I feel that’s what the Holy Father is asking for us.”
Titled “National Synthesis of the People of God in america of America for the Diocesan Phase of the 2021-2023 Synod,” the report was prepared upfront of the Synod of Bishops called by Pope Francis.
The synod’s theme is “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.”
The report is the synthesis of 290 documents received by the USCCB from various contributors. The report said the documents “represent over 22,000 reports from individual parishes and other groups” that emerged from greater than 30,000 opportunities to affix the synodal process.
Bishop Flores described the document as “an try to synthesize and contextualize the common joys, hopes and wounds called forth with the assistance of the Holy Spirit within the unfolding of the synod.”
The national synthesis report draws from the 14 intermediate syntheses submitted by teams from each of the geographic regions of the U.S. church. All 178 Latin dioceses and archdioceses submitted syntheses that were incorporated into the regional reports.
The 18 Eastern Catholic eparchies and archeparchies, which make up a separate region under the USCCB, submitted their reports on to the Vatican.
For the method, the USCCB created a sixteenth “region” for the many Catholic national ministries, universities, associations and organizations working throughout the country. Those organizations submitted 112 summary reports.
In a letter introducing the report, Bishop Flores described the document as “an try to synthesize and contextualize the common joys, hopes and wounds called forth with the assistance of the Holy Spirit within the unfolding of the synod.”
“While not a whole articulation of the various topics and perspectives shared within the listening process, this synthesis is an attempt to precise the broader themes that seemed most prevalent within the dioceses and regions of our country.”
“While not a whole articulation of the various topics and perspectives shared within the listening process, this synthesis is an attempt to precise the broader themes that seemed most prevalent within the dioceses and regions of our country,” he wrote.
The report is split into 4 themes: “Enduring Wounds,” “Enhancing Communion and Participation,” “Ongoing Formation for Mission” and “Engaging Discernment.” Each section summarizes common observations raised within the listening sessions.
It includes directly quoted descriptions of common concerns, hopes and desires from individual regional reports raised within the local listening sessions.
Along with the still unfolding effects of the sexual abuse crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exact a toll on the sense of community people felt before the virus.
The report cites several “enduring wounds” expressed through the sessions. Along with the still unfolding effects of the sexual abuse crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exact a toll on the sense of community people felt before the virus swept around the globe in 2020.
“The pandemic itself ‘has led to the fraying of our communities in some ways, accelerating a trend toward disengagement and intensifying the isolation and loneliness of many, youth and elderly specifically. Numerous faithful haven’t yet returned to worship,’” the report said, quoting the Region 12 submission from Northwestern states.
Divisiveness and polarization within the church was a priority expressed in multiple regional reports. The Region 9 report covering 4 Midwestern states said division over the celebration of the Eucharist is disconcerting, particularly in the case of the pre-Vatican II Mass.
“The limited access to the 1962 missal was lamented; many felt that the difference over how one can have fun the liturgy ‘sometimes reach the extent of animosity.’”
“The limited access to the 1962 missal was lamented; many felt that the difference over how one can have fun the liturgy ‘sometimes reach the extent of animosity. People on all sides of the difficulty reported feeling judged by those that differ from them,’” the national synthesis report said quoting the Region 9 submission.
Other concerns were expressed by individuals who feel marginalized. The report said marginalized people fall into two broad groups.
One made up of those that are vulnerable by their lack of social or economic power, including those with disabilities, the mentally in poor health, immigrants, ethnic minorities, people within the U.S. without documents, the unborn and their moms, and people living in poverty, who’re homeless, are incarcerated or living with an addiction.
“The synodal consultations across the enduring wounds have exposed a deep hunger for healing and the strong desire for communion, community, and a way of belonging and being united.”
The second group includes women, “whose voices are often marginalized within the decision-making processes of the church,” the report said. Others within the group include those that are marginalized “because circumstances in their very own lives are experienced as impediments to full participation within the lifetime of the church” including members of the LGBTQ+ community and people who find themselves divorced and could have remarried, and people civilly married.
“The synodal consultations across the enduring wounds brought on by the clergy sexual abuse scandal, the pandemic, polarization and marginalization have exposed a deep hunger for healing and the strong desire for communion, community, and a way of belonging and being united,” the national synthesis report said.
Under the theme of “Enhancing Communion and Participation,” the sacramental lifetime of the church and the spirit of welcome inside the church were addressed. The report found that the injuries expressed amongst participants in listening sessions might be addressed by the church being more welcoming to those not within the mainstream.
Concerns about racism inside the church and the shortage of welcome to diverse cultural and ethnic communities emerged in listening sessions.
Quoting the Region 13 report from Southwestern states, the synthesis report said participants were concerned with “obstacles to community inside their parishes, partly as a result of the divisive political climate and resulting polarization inside the country.”
People within the region also identified the centrality of the Eucharist as a “source of hope for greater unity.” They said as well as that “receiving Eucharist does bring them more closely in solidarity with the poor,” in accordance with the synthesis report.
Concerns about racism inside the church and the shortage of welcome to diverse cultural and ethnic communities emerged in listening sessions. The elderly, the report said, were particularly hurt by the departure of young people from church life.
“Young people themselves voiced a sense of exclusion and desired to participate more fully as members of the parish community,” the synthesis report said.
Discussions within the sessions “made clear the importance of evangelization as we proceed to live out the church’s mission, which requires stronger formation.”
The synthesis report also included the commentary that “nearly all synodal consultations shared a deep appreciation for the powerful impact of ladies religious who’ve consistently led the way in which in carrying out the mission of the church.”
Participants in listening sessions expressed a “desire for stronger leadership, discernment and decision-making roles for girls—each lay and non secular—of their parishes and communities.”
The synthesis report said a typical hope that emerged nationwide was the “desire for lifelong spiritual, pastoral and catechetical formation as disciples.” Discussions within the sessions “made clear the importance of evangelization as we proceed to live out the church’s mission, which requires stronger formation.”
Steps would come with accompaniment with families of their formation as people long for a better encounter with Jesus.
The synthesis report said the method enabled 1000’s of individuals to reengage “in the easy practice of gathering, praying together and listening to 1 one other.”
Suggestions also emerged on the necessity to “journey together” within the formation of clergy. The Region 5 intermediate report from Southern states suggested such formation was needed to higher understand human and pastoral needs, cultural sensitivity, stronger emphasis on social justice, how one can include laypeople in decision- making and “learning to talk with empathy, creativity and compassion.”
Laypeople, the synthesis report said, also expressed hope that a real appreciation for his or her gifts and skills would grow right into a “relationship of collaboration” with pastors.
The ultimate theme, “Engaging Discernment,” concluded that the diocesan phase of the synodal process was step one in a church rooted in synodality, or walking together.
The synthesis report said the method enabled 1000’s of individuals to reengage “in the easy practice of gathering, praying together and listening to 1 one other.”
“Engaging and discerning with our sisters and brothers who experience the woundedness of marginalization…shall be essential for the unfolding of the synodal journey in our dioceses and in our country.”
It invited people to commit to “ongoing attentive listening, respectful encounter and prayerful discernment.”
Going forward, the report called for continued engagement with communities that didn’t participate broadly within the listening sessions particularly Indigenous people, ethnic communities and immigrants.
“Engaging and discerning with our sisters and brothers who experience the woundedness of marginalization, in addition to those whose voice were underrepresented inside the synodal process, shall be essential for the unfolding of the synodal journey in our dioceses and in our country,” the report said.
The subsequent phase in preparation for the Synod of Bishops is being called the continental phase. It should find teams gathering by continent to synthesize the reports submitted to the Vatican to date. Synod officials will prepare the “instrumentum laboris,” or working document, to guide continental or regional ecclesial assemblies that can happen by March.
The North American report shall be submitted by the U.S. and Canada. Bishop Flores said some preliminary outreach has already occurred among the many teams from the 2 nations. Other continental reports will involve significantly larger gatherings of teams from individual ecclesial assemblies.
Those assemblies will produce one other set of documents that can assist in the drafting of a second working document for the Synod of Bishops in October 2023.
The synod is anticipated to provide a final document on how synodality may be practiced throughout the church.