(The following article was provided to the Catholic Standard by the Parish Support Team of the Secretariat for Pastoral Ministry and Social Concerns of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.) 

“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men (and women) of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.” –  Gaudium et Spes, The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World

Context

The 2021-2024 Synod is a call for the entire People of God to participate in the life of the Catholic Church and to provide an opportunity for them to discern together how to move forward on the path towards being a more synodal Church in the long-term. This Synod is titled: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission,” and it started and continues in our local parishes.

This Synod is not just another meeting of formal presentations, committees, and written reports. This Synod is a Synodal Process of journeying together by praying, listening, dialoguing, discerning and making decisions together. The goal is to make our parishes vibrant communities that proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

During the first phase of the Universal Synod, the diocesan phase, The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington invited parishes to host listening sessions where the clergy, parishioners, religious communities, and any other community members were invited to participate. The parishes then submitted a summary of their parish’s listening sessions to the Central Pastoral Administration staff, and these parish summaries formed the basis for four archdiocesan regional synod listening sessions.

The four archdiocesan regional listening sessions were attended by parish delegates nominated by their pastors, clergy delegates, men and women religious delegates, and youth delegates from Catholic high schools. The focus of the archdiocesan listening sessions was to invite communities to pray together and share with each other not only the joys of their parish life, but also the challenges they are facing so that parishes may accompany and journey with one another.

After the archdiocesan listening sessions were complete, a 10-page report was created by Cardinal Gregory with the archdiocesan Synod team. As many remember, every diocesan report was submitted to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to create a national report. This national report was used during the continental phase of the Synod, where episcopal conferences gathered to pray, listen, and dialogue together. Continental reports were submitted to the Synod in Rome, which used the continental reports to create the working report for the 2023 and 2024 Universal Synod in Rome. 

Moving Forward 

As the continental and universal phase of the Synod moved forward, the Archdiocese of Washington continued fostering a spirit of synodality. To further implement the Synod, a pastoral planning process was developed entitled: Walking Together in Hope: A Pastoral Planing Process for Evangelization. The process was presented to the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, the Presbyteral Council, the Council of Deans, and the monthly meeting of pastors of Hispanic parishes and pastors of Black Catholic parishes in 2023. Cardinal Gregory reviewed the pastoral planning process and approved it to move forward with pilot parishes. Two pilot parishes completed the process during fall 2023.

Walking Together in Hope is one method that the archdiocese will use as part of a multi-year pastoral revitalization initiative to foster the spirit of synodality. This pastoral planning process is rooted in prayer, discernment, and guided listening sessions. It follows up on the several themes that echoed across our parishes during the archdiocesan listening sessions of inviting our people back to vibrant parish life. The cardinal and the three auxiliary bishops have full commitment to be present and involved in this vital next step for our archdiocese. Those parishes that get involved in Walking Together in Hope will count on them to attend one of the parish sessions. (See official letter from the cardinal: https://adw.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/01/walking-together-CG-letter.pdf 

Pastoral Planning Toolkit for Evangelization

The Secretariat for Pastoral Ministry and Social Concerns developed a bilingual facilitator’s manual and a participant’s booklets (English and Spanish) which was reviewed and approved by the cardinal last October. This toolkit provides materials for the parish to host listening sessions to assist pastors with pastoral planning. Each session focuses on a different aspect of evangelization and parish life: Encounter the Lord through Worship, accompaniment, welcoming, and sending. The parish has options in the creation of a schedule and facilitation. 

Session I is facilitated by archdiocesan staff of the Central Pastoral Administration. Sessions II-IV can be facilitated by members of the parish staff or pastoral council. Session V is facilitated by CPA staff members. Sessions I – IV can be held on a series of weekend sessions or weeknight sessions. Session V can be held in one six-hour day session or three morning or evening sessions. 

Getting involved

Currently there are five parishes that are discerning how to implement Walking Together in Hope. Before we start the listening session I, Pastoral Ministry and Social Concerns staff members meet the pastor, parochial vicar(s), and pastoral council to review the process, the toolkit, and discern what is the best way to start the pastoral planning process in the parish. If you would like that your parish implement this pastoral planning process, please feel free to contact Father Lalo Jara, OFM, Director of the archdiocesan Office of Evangelization and Pastoral Planning, at jara-arayae@adw.org or (301) 853-4555.