St. Joseph is regarded as a patron saint for the universal Catholic Church, and as a model for steadfast faith, trust in God and devotion to Jesus amid life’s challenges. So maybe it was fitting that two years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting safety measures and changes in church life in the Washington area, St. Joseph Parish in Largo, Maryland, hosted the second of four regional listening sessions in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington seeking the insight of local Catholics as part of a worldwide consultative effort in advance of a Synod of Bishops in 2023.
The Regional Synod Session for Prince George’s County was held at St. Joseph Parish on March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph, and that morning before the gathering, Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy Campbell Jr., St. Joseph’s pastor, celebrated a feast day Mass there as part of the year-long centennial celebration of the parish, which was established in 1922.
Praying to the Holy Spirit for guidance at the Synod session, Bishop Campbell said, “Make yourself at home in our hearts, teach us the way we must go.”
About 55 people from 15 parishes, the Nigerian Catholic Community, and from several religious orders attended the gathering. Most represented Prince George’s County parishes, and delegates from two Montgomery County parishes and one District of Columbia parish also attended. Due to wintry weather, a March 12 regional listening session for Montgomery County was held on Zoom, and parish representatives from that region who wanted to join in-person gatherings were invited to join listening sessions held this spring in other parts of the archdiocese.
Gail Carter, the director of faith formation for adults at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in Capitol Heights, noted in a small group discussion that, “We’ve lost several members because of COVID and other health issues.” She said it has been meaningful for parishioners to come back together at the parish.
Participants discussed how parishes adapted to the initial COVID-19 shutdowns by livestreaming their Masses and holding Bible studies, prayer groups and parish meetings online, and noted how people yearned for the Eucharist when they could not attend Mass in person.
Later addressing the session’s participants, Carter said, “When COVID came along, everything that we knew as being comfortable (in church life) was destroyed, so we had to focus on, ‘Where is the Church?’… The Church is us,” she said. “Community and Communion are from the same root. We must invite everyone into the community, so we can share that Communion of Christ in our lives.” Noting how parishes have engaged in more online activities since the pandemic, she said, “We feel in the past two years, the Holy Spirit has moved us to expand our horizons.”
Dr. Jeannine Marino, the archdiocesan Secretary for Pastoral Ministry and Social Concerns and one of two archdiocesan contacts for the global Synod, helped lead the regional gathering, and later as she summarized participants’ reflections, she said a key point was, “This is a time to bring our community back together.”
Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory, at an October 2021 Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle opening the archdiocesan phase of the Synod, said as the world emerges from the pandemic, the Synod process is unfolding “as we seek to reopen the doors of our churches, and even more importantly, to reopen the doors of our hearts.”
At a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome opening the process leading up to the 2023 Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis said, “Celebrating a synod means walking on the same road, together,” just like Jesus did, encountering, listening and discerning with all whom one meets.
The Synod’s theme is “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission.” From reports drawn from the parish, regional and diocesan listening sessions, national bishops’ conferences around the world will prepare reports for the 2023 Synod of Bishops.
Parishes in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington held listening sessions in fall 2021 and in the first months of 2022. Local Catholics also have the option of filling out an online survey.
Several participants at the Prince George’s regional session emphasized the need for parishes to welcome people back to Masses and invite them to participate in parish ministries, and they especially stressed the importance of getting youth involved in parish life, and to utilize their talents in areas like technology.
“We must be awakened to the gifts of youth. Through them, we will continue to grow,” Carter said.
That point was also underscored by Thelma Adams as she reported on her small group’s discussion, noting they talked about “the need for youth to be engaged, listened to and make them part of the Church.”
Adams, who serves in adult faith formation at Holy Family Parish in Hillcrest Heights and is a leader in the Sisters in the Spirit Catholic women’s group in the archdiocese, also reported that her group emphasized, “Jesus must be central in our lives.” She said it is important for parishes to “get back to the basics” in teaching the Catholic faith, emphasize the importance of listening, and that everyone has gifts to share.
“The bottom line is, we are one in Christ,” Adams said.
Participants also emphasized the importance of ecumenical efforts with other Christian faith groups, and charitable outreach as a way of unifying parishioners as they serve those in need. Several people mentioned the importance of the Catholic Church being inclusive and welcoming to people of different ages, cultures and backgrounds, and one participant noted how her diverse parish has an Africa Day, where African parishioners share food from their countries.
Another point raised during the regional session was that it would be helpful for the archdiocese to share best practices with parishes, to help them more effectively carry out ministries and serve their communities. Sharing best practices among parishes will “help us strengthen the foundation of our Church,” said Samantha Northern, a government consultant who serves as a lector and on the pastoral and finance councils at Most Holy Rosary Parish in Rosaryville.
Participants also recommended that the Catholic Church utilize all communications methods and social media, and for parishes and the archdiocese to continue seeking parishioners’ input at listening sessions.
Sign language interpreters assisted at the meeting, as two delegates from St. Francis of Assisi Deaf Catholic Church, Hector Reynoso and Pauline Spanbauer, joined the small group discussions. Members of that community are attending Masses at St. Hugh Church in Greenbelt after a fire damaged their church in December.
Sharing the input from a Synod session held for members of St. Francis Deaf Catholic Church, those two delegates emphasized the importance of having priests who can serve the Deaf community, and they suggested having seminarians’ curriculum include training in American Sign Language and educational courses about Deaf culture. They also said that Deaf Catholics don’t want to travel a long distance from home for Masses with sign language interpretation.
“We hope the bishops, priests, laypersons and hearing parishioners will listen to us to understand our cultural needs,” said Spanbauer in an email interview. She serves as a lector for readings in ASL for St. Francis Deaf Catholic Church and has served on the adjunct faculty at Gallaudet University in Washington.
That point was underscored in an email from Reynoso, a financial management analyst for the federal government who also serves as a lector at St. Francis Deaf Catholic Church.
“It is our hope that the Synod process will send a message to bishops, priests and laypersons. Let’s hope they meet our needs as Deaf and hard-of-hearing Catholics and (help us) have a welcoming relationship with the hearing Catholic Church,” said Reynoso, who served as a lector and did a reading in ASL at Pope Francis’s Canonization Mass for St. Junípero Serra outside the Basilica of National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception during the pope’s 2015 visit to Washington.
Roslyn Brown, a member of St. Martin of Tours Parish in Washington, said she appreciated those insights from the members of St. Francis Deaf Catholic Church.
“These kind of sessions help to open our eyes to the needs of the wider community within the archdiocese,” she said.
Like many participants, she shared an idea of something that has worked well at her parish, an annual weekend retreat that she said builds closer bonds among parishioners and inspires them to deepen their faith and live it out in their everyday lives.
In addition to spiritual and charitable activities, participants also mentioned social activities that can unite parishioners, like a parish garden club or by hosting game or movie nights at the parish.
Brown, a retired civil rights executive for the federal government, said she appreciated the Synod listening sessions. “The beauty of this is I feel the archdiocese is interested in hearing the views of the people from the parishes… and cares about our perspectives, about our experiences and about how we can be a better Church,” she said.
That point was echoed by Steve Proctor, who has his own government lobbying firm and serves on the parish council at Most Holy Rosary Parish. “I thought it was a wonderful experience just to be able to listen, for people to feel they’re being heard, that they’re part of the process,” he said.
Margaret Boles of Holy Family Parish in Mitchellville said she felt like the Holy Spirit was helping the Synod listening session participants “refocus our Church on what its mission is, to reach out to others.”
Regional Synod Sessions will be held for the Southern Maryland counties of Charles, St. Mary’s and Calvert on March 26 at Our Lady Help of Christians Parish in Waldorf, and for the District of Columbia on May 14 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish.
Marino noted that based on the input from the local listening sessions and online surveys, The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington will prepare a 10-page report for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, as will dioceses across the country. Then the USCCB will summarize those findings in a 10-page report for the Synod of Bishops.
“We’ll see where the Holy Spirit leads us and how we can continue the synodal spirit in our parishes and in the archdiocese,” she said.
Afterward, Minerva Blanco of St. Mary’s of Piscataway Parish in Clinton said she was inspired by “the great desire everyone has for the Church to grow, to become more inclusive, and to continue listening to its parishioners.”
Ike Agbim, an architect who is a member of St. Joseph Parish in Largo, said, “I hope the Church will be able to adopt some of the recommendations.”
Gail Carter of St. Margaret’s Parish in Capitol Heights noted, “We’re taking what we heard and experienced back to our parishes. The conversation will continue there.”
Thelma Adams of Holy Family Parish in Hillcrest Heights also expressed hope that process will continue. She noted, “What touched my heart was the fact we came together, we listened, we learned, and everybody had a voice. I think that’s so important. When you’re able to share your faith, you grow in your faith.”
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Online survey for Catholics in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington
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