Through months of listening sessions at the parish and regional levels in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, an appreciation arose for the simple notion of listening to one another as a key theme for the Catholic Church’s Synod now in process around the world.

The archdiocese’s Synthesis Report for the Synod summarized the ideas accumulated from hundreds of hours of listening sessions for a 10-page report to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It was submitted to the bishops’ conference and posted on the archdiocesan website at the end of June.

Cardinal Wilton Gregory highlighted the importance of listening in the Synod process in his homily at the May 14 concluding Mass for the Archdiocesan Synod. He described how a mother’s love mirrors the love of the Church for the people of God. 

“In listening, she (your mother) makes you feel important, she makes you feel loved, and she makes you feel that even the most difficult situation is possibly able to be resolved. A mother’s love does not always say ‘yes,’ but a mother’s love is always healing, is always strengthening,” the cardinal said, adding, “May the Church love her children in the very same way. Not always saying ‘yes’ to everything that we ask, but always making us feel important and noble and worthwhile and listened to.”

The Synod process was designed to elicit from Catholics around the world their ideas about the Church – both aspects they find challenging and the things that give them hope. Unlike other synods, it has no programmatic agenda. As the archdiocesan report explained: “the ‘goal’ of the Archdiocese journeying together was not to create a new pastoral plan with management-based goals and objectives. Rather, the goal of our journeying together – laity, religious and clergy – was to be present with one another, to listen and learn with each other, and to grow closer to the Lord and His Church.”

The Washington Archdiocese’s synthesis report said the document itself was “secondary to the primary purpose of hosting parish and regional listening sessions where members of the local Church community gathered to pray, listen and dialogue together.”

In addition to the appreciation for listening, other themes from the local process included that people of the archdiocese:

• Believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist;
• hold deep appreciation and love for their pastors and parishes; 
• want to include youth and young adults more meaningfully in the life of the parish;
• see both positive and negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives;
• are deeply proud of their multicultural archdiocese and see it as a source of unity in the universal Church;
• welcome people in marginalized communities and those who raised challenges to aspects of the Church in the Synod process. 

The report noted that there was some trepidation among archdiocesan organizers ahead of the Synod, “namely due to concerns that the language of the synodal questions was too theological and removed from people’s everyday experiences, and because listening sometimes does not lead to action and change.”

However, the report said, the people of the archdiocese embraced the process “as a sign of hope and healing for this local Church and as a way to journey together as a community of faith.”

The synthesis described several ideas that resonated among the parishes, individuals and religious communities that participated in the process.

For instance, it said: “the Archdiocese’s diversity is a subject of legitimate pride, but many noted a lack of equity and inclusion in parish life. An example is the fact that this Archdiocese has the largest Deaf and hearing-impaired Catholic community in the U.S., but this community experiences a lack of inclusion because there are currently no active archdiocesan priests who are fluent in American Sign Language.”

Another concern that “resonated deeply across the synod process, concerned marginalized Catholics, specifically persons who identify as LGBTQ+ and the divorced and remarried.” A request arose to better include people in these groups in the life of the Church and “for greater accompaniment for them and their families.”

A section of the synthesis related what it called six “principal fruits of discernment,” derived from both positive and more critical comments. The first was a call to continue listening sessions, and the second was to integrate into parish life what is heard and discerned. A third was summarized as “increase communication, specifically, ‘listening to each other’ vs. ‘talking at each other’ or ‘passing along announcements.’”

The “principal fruits of discernment” also focused on a call for increased transparency and accountability in how decisions are made at parish and archdiocesan levels. Another called for making more use of qualified laypersons at both parish and the archdiocesan levels in both decision making and administrative tasks to give clergy “more time for sacramental ministry and preaching.”

Although the Synod’s purpose is not to create programs, the local listening sessions raised a few proposals for how to develop the themes that arose as important. For instance, the synthesis report proposed that the archdiocese develop a multi-year pastoral revitalization initiative. It should focus on:

• Empowering Catholics to evangelize using practical tools and more welcoming parishes;
• forming intergenerational regional teams to work with parishes in developing adult faith formation in the teachings of the Church;
• pastoral activities that work toward forgiveness and restoring trust for those who have felt marginalized by the past actions of Church leaders.” Outreach would include various racial and cultural groups; survivors of clergy sexual abuse; Catholics who are divorced and remarried; LGBTQ+ Catholics and their families and the traditional Latin Mass community.

 Diocese-level synthesis reports were due to the USCCB by June 30. The USCCB will compile a national synthesis based on reports from each of the U.S. dioceses. That will be presented to a continental gathering of North and Central American dioceses. The Synod will culminate with a global gathering of bishop at the Vatican in October 2023.

Of the 139 parishes in the Archdiocese, 106 submitted summaries of local listening sessions. Reports also were submitted from two Catholic high schools, The Catholic University of America and other groups. More than 1,000 individuals submitted responses to an online survey that was open to all clergy, religious and laity. All those, as well as reports from four regional listening sessions, were compiled into the Synthesis Report by a team from the staff of the archdiocese.

Link to Synod Synthesis report for The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington