Dear friends, please allow me to add my welcome to that of Father Jan and convey my heartfelt gratitude for your acceptance of this important mission! I am deeply appreciative of this expression of your love for Jesus and His Church and of your hopes for its flourishing here in our archdiocese. God willing, your – or rather, our – contributions together will make a lasting impact on the vitality and even dynamism of our local church. Thank you!
This journey should likewise have a lasting impact on each of you, as well. As Pope Leo XIV has expressed, the experience of synodality should leave one with “a co-responsible sense of belonging and of leadership and [of] accountability in the life of the Church.” I pray for that sense to flood all our conversations together and leave each of us, as well as our brothers and sisters who join with us over the coming months, with a more profound appreciation of our unified membership in the Mystical Body of Christ.
It is important to begin with the basics. What is this strange word, synodality, that we first heard only a few years ago? Well, first and foremost, synodality is a spiritual journey. In the words of Pope Francis in 2021, “The Synod is a process of spiritual discernment, of ecclesial discernment, that unfolds in adoration, in prayer, and in dialogue with the word of God… That word summons us to discernment and it brings light to that process. It guides the Synod, preventing it from becoming a Church convention, a study group or a political gathering, a parliament, but rather a grace-filled event, a process of healing guided by the Spirit.” In other words, this is not the work of men and women, but the work of God to whom men and women listen and with whom they cooperate.
As our Synod 2027 web page indicates, a diocesan synod is a time of listening to the Holy Spirit and to one another in what are called “Conversations in the Spirit,” culminating in a general assembly with representatives of the clergy, vowed religious, and laity to assist the local bishop. And I am very grateful for that assistance! It will be particularly valuable as I continue to get to know our archdiocese and establish priorities for the future. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has not had a synod since 1971, so I would say that we are overdue! A lot has changed in the last 55 years, hasn’t it? It is certainly a priority of the Holy Father, Pope Leo, as it was for Pope Francis, that the Church proceed in a synodal manner so that plans and decisions are made in a spirit of prayerful discernment. In that spirit, Synod 2027 will be an engagement of our whole archdiocese to consider what the Holy Spirit may be asking of the Church of Cincinnati, both now and in the years to come, about how to faithfully live and share the apostolic mission of the Church across these 19 counties.
By happy coincidence, the timeline of Synod 2027 corresponds to the planned conclusion of Beacons of Light. Synod 2027 will be invaluable to helping set in place the foundations of Beacons of Light as the way of life in our archdiocese. While Beacons of Light is a distinct pastoral planning process for Families of Parishes, it both shares in and contributes to the hopes for Synod 2027.
A diocesan synod is fundamentally a local activity. It is very important for everyone to hear and understand this point. Synod 2027 is not a reexamination of the doctrine or dogma or definitively held teachings of the Catholic Church – anything in the deposit of faith. These are outside the scope of local authority and outside the spirit of synodality. The synod is not an opportunity for individuals to promote particular agendas. The synod is the work of God, and we are His cooperators.
My hope is that Synod 2027 will unite us as the Church sent forth to share the light and love of Christ. How we might best go about that together is what our “Conversations in the Spirit” will be all about. Thank you again for generously dedicating your time and talent to this holy work. Be assured of my prayers as we journey forward together.
