2021-2024 Synod

October 2024
The Synod of Bishops concludes its collective work in the General Assembly during the month of October. The implementation of the results will pour forth in the months and years to follow. You can follow along with media surrounding this historic event by clicking here.

Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod remarked, "We have reached the final stretch of the work of our Synodal Assembly, which gathers the fruits of a long journey that began in October 2021. Right now, the Gospel passage shows us the way to “gather” and Jesus invites us to beware of all covetousness, and this may concern not only material goods, but the good and beauty that Jesus is entrusting to us in this Synod....If we listen to the voice of the Spirit, the conclusion of this synodal assembly will not be the end of something, but a new beginning, so that "the Word of God may spread and be glorified" (2 Thess 3:1)."

May 28, 2024
National Synthesis for the Interim Stage
The National Synthesis of the People of God in the United States of America for the Interim Stage marks the completion of the Interim Stage of the 2021-2024 Synod: Click the above link to read all about it!

April 5, 2024
Interim Diocesan Synthesis
Thank you to everyone who participated in submitting your listening sessions results.  We held 94 listening sessions across 82% of our parishes and all of our schools.  Want to know more about our greatest distresses and greatest successes? Click the above link and you can read all about it.

January 21, 2024
Big news!  Bishop Daniel E. Flores launches additional listening sessions among all the United States Dioceses during the Interim Stage.

The following steps will assist all parishes, schools, and interested parties in submitting your listening session responses:

1. Open and Print the Submission Form to view the questions and what will be asked of your ministry location.
   
   
2. Open and Print the Listening Session Recommendations to assist those guiding their small group discussions.
   
   
3. After all listening sessions for your location have been collected and synthesized, have the pastor, administrator, or their delegate upload their official response on our Submission Form. Deadline: March 15, 2024

The purpose of the listening sessions is for us to come together and listen to each other and gain better understanding of one another.  In doing this, we can then submit a response from the fruits of those discussions and understanding.  If you cannot attend your local listening session you are invited to do one of two things: (1) seek out another listening session in a different parish territory, or (2) submit your personal response to your local pastor BEFORE the local listening session is held.  Then your response can be considered in the context of a listening session.  Do not submit person listening sessions through this online form, as it will not be accepted.  The point is that we need to listen to each other to gain understanding, and so each person's opinions, thoughts, and faith needs to enter into a discussion at a listening session -- and not indepently submitted, void of listening, discussing, discerning, and considering others' input.

Secondly, we will continue to incorporate into our Diocesan Pastoral Planning, Diocesan Assemblies, and other avenues some of the focal points from A Synodal Church In Mission: Synthesis Report.  In the future, we will work to mesh our local efforts of Synodality into the mission of the Church worldwide.

December 2, 2023
Enlgish | Español | Other Languages
The First Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops was approved by the assembly on October 28, 2023.  A Synodal Church in Mission: Synthesis Report is now available with the above links.

At the conclusion of the First Session, it has taken a little time for various reports to filter out into the world.  Here are a few reflections by voting delegates:

• Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio
  Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, USCCB President
• Cardinal Timothy Dolan
  Archbishop of New York, New York
• Cardinal Sean O'Malley
  Archbishop of Boston, Massachusettes
• Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin
  Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey
• Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell
  Prefect for the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, Vatican City, Italy
  Bishop emeritus of Dallas, Texas
• Bishop Daniel Flores
  Bishop of Brownsville, Texas
• Bishop Robert E. Baron
  Bishop of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota
• Bishop Kevin Rhoades
  Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana
  
• Archbishop John Wilson
  Archdiocese of Southwark, United Kingdom
• Cynthia Bailey Manns
  non-bishop voting delegate, Minneapolis, Minnisota
• Wyatt Olivas
  non-bishop voting delegate, Laramie, Wyoming
  (not reflection, but something fun)

Archbishop John Wilson on the Appreciation of the Sense of Faith
"In understanding the sensus fidei, we cannot separate the Holy Spirit from Christ. The mission of the Holy Spirit is to make Christ’s work and teaching present, fresh, and active, not to make known a new revelation separate from Christ. The teaching of the Church does, indeed, develop over time. This happens by the unfolding of truth in fidelity to what went before. We can say the Holy Spirit is like the master of the house, spoken about by Christ, who brings out of his treasure - the deposit of faith - what is new and what is old. (cf. Mt 13:52; CCC 1117) There cannot be development in contradiction, as though the Holy Spirit would say one thing in the second century, something completely different in the sixteenth century, and, yet still, something completely different again in the twenty-first century. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, keeping us faithful to the fullness of revelation who is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. (cf. Heb 13:8)

During the synod, Pope Francis offered a beautiful illustration of this. ‘When you want to know ‘what’ Holy Mother Church believes,’ he said, ‘go to the Magisterium, because it is in charge of teaching it to you. But when you want to know ‘how’ the Church believes, go to the faithful people.’"

August 29, 2023
Archbishop Paul Dennis Etienne shares his reflection of the Prepartory Meetings for the North American Delegation that began on the Synod.  He includes a full list of participants for the Synod, but the participants for this prepartory meeting are: Cardinal Robert McElroy, San Diego, Mr. Wyatt Olivas, Cheyenne, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, Archbishop of Military Ordinariate, Cardinal Blase Cupich, Chicago, Sr. Leticia Salazar, San Bernardino, myself, Bishop Robert Barron, Winon-Rochester, Bishop Daniel Flores, Brownsville, Dr. Cynthia Bailey-Manns, St. Paul-Minneapolis, Ms. Julia Osaka, Philadelphia, and Rev. Ivan Montelongo, El Paso.

July 7, 2023
Pope Francis appoints more than 450 participants, including dozens of religious men, women and lay people from around the world to attend the first general assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality in October.  363 cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and lay men and women will be voting.  This is a historic first, as Pope Francis is now allowing women to vote.  Soon to be added will be nonvoting members that will consist of experts and representatives from non-Catholic Christian communities.  This session will take place on Oct. 4-29, 2023.  For a list of participants and the full article by Catholic News Service, click here.

June 20, 2023
English | Español Instrumentum Laboris
"The Instrumentm Laboris (IL) is an opportunity for the entire People of God to continue the journey that has begun, and an opportunity to involve those who have not been involved so far," said Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the General Secretariat of the Synod.  It is a culmination of the input from people from around the world at the local, national, and continental levels.  The IL serves as a working document for those attending the Synod and will help all of us follow along the path of important questions that feed the discernment ahead.

March 1, 2023
English | Español | French North American Continental Final Document
On January 26, 2023 the English, French, and Spanish continental assemblies concluded the listening sessions and the above document was drafted and finalized in the following months.  Five priorities were identified and directed to the Synod in Rome: (1) Integration of synodal consultation in the local Churches. This would include formation both in synodality and in the spirituality of discernment; (2) The challenge of welcoming those who feel excluded from participation in the life of the Church in a manner that is authentic and faithful to the Gospel and the Catholic faith weighs heavily on the hearts of our people; (3) Co-responsibility; (4) Addressing the unity and communion of the Church in the midst of various kinds of polarization and division; (5) A Church that goes out to the peripheries.

May 1, 2022
English | Español Diocese of Salt Lake City Synthesis

It is with sincere appreciation for all those who submitted their local parish reports by the deadline and were able to provide valuable feedback to the bishops and pope.  We submitted our report to the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops in Washington, D.C., and we now post it above in both English and Spanish.

There are numerous quotes throughout the document from the people of God from all over Utah.  There were so many thoughtful comments worthy of deeper reflection and consideration in our local parishes, schools, and other institutions.  We did our best to capture the sentiments, but it was impossible to include every good comment.

What is important is that we "journey together toward God faithfully."  How we prayerfully take to heart the sentiments, and wider implications of this report, will help us spiritually grow, and be kinder and more welcoming.  Not everything in the report is being endorsed as a direction we should go.  Rather, it is the result of us listening to each other.  Some of what you read will become an encouragement, a call to holiness, but not all.  We must first know the feelings, thoughts, and faith of others beyond ourselves if we are to evangelize and work to journey together.

The synodal journey is only beginning, and it starts with listening.  You will discover that the results of his report will be utilized throughout the diocese on the local level, but also on a diocesan level.  In August 2022, Church leaders, both laity and clergy, reflected and discussed the Diocesan Pastoral Plan and how our report will inform this process going forward.  When the final report of the Synod is presented in October of 2024 in Rome, we will once again have the opportunity to reflect and incorporate the world-wide findings.

Very Rev. John S. EvansThank you again to everyone who participated and shared your heart, your faith, your time, and your energy.  We began our synodal work in November of 2021 and we will continue on through the end of the Synod.  This endevour will continue to bear fruit in the coming years due to your generosity in sharing your experiences, thoughts, challenges, dreams and aspirations.  May God bless us in our synodal journey and building up the Body of Christ.

Supporting Documents & Resources

• Synod Official Website
• USCCB Synod of Synodality
• Adsumus, Sancte Spiritus (Prayer)
• Vademecum (60 pages)
• Extended Preparatory Document (44 pages)
• Catholic News Agency: What is 'synodality'?  Experts explain (highly recommended)