Diocese issues report for world synod

July 17, 2022

By The Catholic Free Press

“As we journey together as a Church we need to benefit from the varied cultures, life experiences and wisdom of our brothers and sisters while a united in one faith, one baptism and one Lord. Listening to those at the heart of the Church and to those at the peripheries was enlightening and encouraging as those who participated seemed to appreciate the opportunity,” says a diocesan committee report called the “2022 Synthesis of Synodal Experience.”
Hundreds of people participated in the gathering of comments for the upcoming worldwide Assembly of Bishops in Synod in October 2023. “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission” is the theme of the synod. “The resulting information and that from the on-line surveys has given us much grist to reflect upon as we continue to discern how best to improve our consultative efforts and make use of their valuable fruits,” says the report.The diocese has sent a compilation of input and feedback, and an outline of the process used, to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB will now compile the responses of the more than 200 other U.S. dioceses. This will be used to create a working documentat the continental level, North America, that will in turn be used to create another working document to be used at the worldwide synod in 2023. The aim of the Synod of Bishops is to “discern at a universal level the voice of the Holy Spirit who has been speaking throughout the entire Church,” according to the “Vademecum: For the Synod on Synodality,” a handbook for the process.The Worcester Diocese decided that there would not be a diocesan-wide gathering to solicit input because of ongoing concerns about COVID-19. Instead, parishes and other groups could choose to gather in person for discussion of synodality or refer people to an on-line survey or do both. According to the diocesan synodal experience report, there were 445 individual responses and 34 group responses. The completereport is published online at worcesterdiocese.org/synod-2023-home. Information about participating in the diocesan synod sessions was sent to all 96 parishes, four missions and 27 religious communities in the diocese. Also, contacts were made with groups at the “periphery” to learn about their engagement with the diocese. Among the groups that met to discuss the synod questions were parish assemblies, a neighborhood health program, men’s and women’s residential substance abuse programs, a homeless shelter, a Catholic nursing home and a young adult gathering, according to the report.Bishop McManus started the synodal process by calling representatives from every parish to St. Paul Cathedral for a Mass on Oct. 26, 2021. The Bishop, priests, deacons and lay faithful of the diocese joined together “in invoking the Holy Spirit on the synod process.”In early February, the diocesan synod webpage (www.worcesterdiocese.org/synod-2023-home) was launched in English and Spanish. The page included background, links to the Vatican Synod and USCCB Synod websites, a facilitator’s guide, prayers for the Synod’s success, bulletin announcements and links for online response to the synod questions. Stories about the process and copies of the questions were published in The Catholic Free Press for those without access to the internet.“The thoughts and comments generated through the process were many and varied, and not always consistent and reconcilable,” according to the report.
WHO PARTICIPATED?
Older, engaged Catholics were most often those who participated in the process. Ninety percent of the individual respondents identified themselves as practicing Catholics. About 77 percent were age 55 or older and 50 percent were age 65 and older. Just 8 percent were under age 44. Participants in the youth group survey (grades 8-12) equaled 10 percentof the individual responses. Participants were asked questions to gauge their current activity level with regards to the evangelization of others. Ninety percent said that they have considered inviting someone to Mass. Seventy percent said they tried to share their faith with others. Nearly 15 percent thought their faith was a personal matter that they did not share with others.In an effort to quantify how they viewed and were engaged in parish life: 73 percent thought their parish did a good job of welcoming people. About 20 percent said they knew their fellow parishioners very well, 63 percent said they knew them somewhat and 17 percent said they did not know their fellow parishioners at all. Many of the non-Catholics speaking at “peripheral group” meetings had little exposure to the Catholic Church and had not visited a church. In the past, the diocese has offered opportunities for the entire church body to participate in decision-making on matters that would affect them. Some of the consultative outreach efforts included: pastoral planning, youth ministry, improving communications, the need for a capital campaign and school consolidations. Sixty-four percent of individual respondents had participated in one or more of those efforts. Those not associated with the Church had not heard of any of the efforts.Parish councils and finance committees are included as examples of collaborative opportunities. There were comments that in some places, parish councils and finance committees don’t exist or function with energy and openness, the report states. However, parishes did a better job of listening than the diocese, according to responses. “On a scale of 0 [low] to 100, parishes averaged 66 while the diocese average was 45,” the report noted.A person who had been involved in the diocesan Pastoral Council thought the Bishop “really did listen and care.” Others thought the results of consultative opportunities were predetermined, not followed through on, or were not sufficiently inclusive of marginalized individuals andgroups, the report noted.

WHY SPEAK OUT?

There was only one negative comment about the opportunity to express one’s views about the Synod process. Yet, there were concerns expressed about the usefulness of speaking out, at both the diocesan and parish levels. Some things cited and suggested: letters and calls to the Diocese were not answered; a Chancery person should be identified as a parish liaison; and the bishop and diocesan officials should more regularly visit parishes.
PARTICULAR ISSUES
“There were numerous expressions that the Church is not open to and hostile to LGBTQ+ people. The youth group responses reflected frustration with the ‘rigidity’ of Church teachings which conflict with societal views. Others thought concerns over liturgical innovations expressed to the pastor or parish staff were not welcomed. Still others were deeply concerned about ‘the non-synodal manner’ in which Traditionis Custodes impacted those Catholics who cherish the Extraordinary Form of the Mass,” the report noted.
MASS ATTENDANCE
“While celebrating the Eucharist and listening together to the Word of God must elevate ‘journeying together’ and inform synodality, there were strongly expressed views of why Catholics are no longer attending Mass,” the report noted. Comments included the following: the COVID-19 dispensations got people out of the habit; people have many demands on them and their time; a lack of trust in the Church from fallout of the sex abuse crisis; poor liturgies, music and preaching; a lack of a prayerful atmosphere in Church; a lack of welcome or a sense of community, a cliquishness; poor catechesis for children and education for adults including ambiguous teaching and comments from Rome.”There was an encouraging finding as the Church in America starts a three-year eucharistic revival. According to the report, “more than 97 percent of the respondents believed that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist, that nearly 96 percent believed that the Eucharist imparts God’s grace to help live a better life, and that for 94 percent the Eucharist was central to who they were as a Catholic.”
CO-RESPONSIBILITY FOR MISSION
Drawing on a document from the Second Vatican Council, Apostolicam actuositatem, there is a “diversity of ministry but unity of mission,” the report notes. Thus, the “advice, counsel, competencies and input of the laity are critical for informed decision making in the Church” and there should be “continued opportunities for consultation at all levels of the Church.” To be effective, there needs to be proper, accurate and effective education, preaching and teaching of the Catholic faith, the report states. Discussionabout the interplay between the Church and society elicited “numerous (and contradictory) comments,” the report stated. Some of the examples given are: “the Catholic Church is incredibly out of touch with the needs of young people,” “the church is so hungup in the old ways of teaching,” “seeming lack of welcome to gay families, not accepting of divorced/alternative families” “the role of women.” However, others ex-pressedconcern about: the “lack of understanding of church teaching/bad communication of beliefs,” deficiencies in high school CCD, teaching on the depth of the Mystery of the Eucharist, “poor catechesis,” “the Eucharist is not really relevant to young people today,” “there is no unity within the Diocese,” “the Church is a unique institution and has the answers to all the social ills of today because Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life.”“Confusion about the content and reasons for the Catholic teaching on faith and morals needs to be dispelled by better education in order to have the essential dialogue with society and people of other faiths,” the report concluded.“Our Diocese experiences strains and divisions reflective of society. Continued creative efforts at communication, opportunities for consultation, clear, faithful teaching anda deeper understanding of the nature of the Church, its worship and role in society will help us all as we continue to journey together to bring Christ and the Gospel to each and every one of God’s beloved people in our Diocese,” the report summarized.Itis necessary to know about Church matters so that diocesan and parish decisions can be well informed.