The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the National Synthesis of the People of God in the United States of America. The synthesis marks the completion of the diocesan phase of the 2021-2023 Synod: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.
The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland was among the entities that participated in the synodal process. Father Damian Ference, vicar for evangelization and head of the Parish Life and Special Ministries Secretariat, and Lynette Saenz, assistant secretary for Parish Life and Special Ministries, were appointed by Bishop Edward Malesic to coordinate the diocesan process.
Bishop Malesic opened the diocesan synodal process with a liturgy nearly a year ago, on Oct. 17, 2021. In the ensuing months, more than 200 facilitators were trained, listening sessions took place throughout the diocese, reports were submitted and a diocesanwide pre-synodal gathering took place in June.
Saenz said 118 parishes – 64% -- conducted at least one listening session and 169 reports were submitted. She said 12,684 people participated in person, 610 responded online and all 10 college campus ministries in the diocese participated. A little more than 50% of the participate were young people under the age of 30, including parish school of religion attendees, Catholic schools, high schools and young adult groups.
Click here to view a final copy of the diocesan synthesis that was submitted to the USCCB as well as the working document from the diocesan pre-synodal gathering. Saenz also contributed to the national synthesis just released by the USCCB.
Last October, Pope Francis invited the global Catholic Church to reflect on walking together and listening to one another. This Synod on Synodality is a two-year process that began with local dioceses and parishes engaging in dialogue through listening sessions. Each diocese then prepared a report of what was heard at these sessions. In turn, those local reports were then sent to the USCCB and a national summary was created and sent to the Holy See on Aug. 29.
Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine, who shepherded the preparation of the synthesis, wrote, “With immense gratitude, I have the distinct honor of sharing the National Synthesis. This pivotal document is the culmination of 10 months of intentional listening carried out throughout the Church in the U.S. The synodal consultations, from parishes, dioceses, and national regions express the voices of hundreds of thousands in our local churches.”
The National Synthesis represents the synodal efforts of the 178 Latin dioceses in the United States, including the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter that serves both the United States and Canada. Due to their long history of synodal practice, the Eastern Catholic Churches shared their reports directly with the Holy See.
Catholic associations, organizations and national ministries in the United States also were invited to participate in the Synod by submitting a summary report from their listening sessions to the USCCB’s Synod Team. In all, 112 submissions were received from organizations and when combined with the reports from each of the dioceses/archdioceses, 290 documents in total were received. These contributions represent more than 22,000 reports from individual parishes and other groups. There were more than 30,000 opportunities to participate in the Synod through in-person and virtual listening sessions as well as online surveys. An estimated 700,000 people participated in the diocesan phase of the Synod in the United States.
“The synthesis is, among other things, an expression of the common joys, hopes and wounds the bishops have heard and are hearing from the wider body of the Church. The publication of this document is not a concluding moment, it is instead an invitation to continue to dialogue and discern, together, those matters that weigh heavily on the hearts and minds of Catholics in the U.S.,” Bishop Flores said.
The National Synthesis is available in both English and Spanish. More information about the diocesan phase of the 2021-2023 Synod – For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission, as well as a brief overview of the next steps in the process can be found at usccb.org/synod.
Saenz said resources describing the next phase of the synodal process are available here.