For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

Have you ever heard of a “Vademe­cum?” Personally, I cannot recall hearing of a “Vademecum” until a month or so ago. If you look up or Google the definition, you will find:

Noun: vademecum; borrowed from the Latin, “go with me,” a handbook or guide that is kept constantly at hand for consultation; “His book is an excellent vademecum for writers.”

In early September, all of the Bishops and Dioceses in the United States received the “Vademecum for the Synod on Synodality, the Official Handbook for Listening and Discernment in Local Churches: First Phase (Oct. 2021–April 2022) in Dioceses and Bishops Conferences, Leading up to the Assembly of Bishops in Synod in October 2023.”

This will be the 16th Ordinary General Session of the Synod of Bishops since the Second Vatican Council. St. Pope Paul VI re-instituted the Synod in a formal way on Septem­ber 15, 1965, toward the end of the Council. You can find a brief, very helpful article on the Vatican website, entitled “The Synod of Bishops: An Introduction.”

Before sharing some thoughts on how we are planning to begin, introduce, and participate in the Synod here in our Diocese, I would like to share a brief paragraph from the “Vademecum”:

This worldwide invitation to all the faithful is the first phase of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, whose theme is “For a Synodal Church: communion, participation and mission.”

In creating the opportunity for listening and dialogue on the local level through this Synod, Pope Francis is calling the Church to rediscover its deeply synodal nature. This rediscovery of the synodal roots of the Church will involve a process of humbly learning together how God is calling us to be as the Church in the third millennium.

I would recommend reading the last two sentences of that quote a few times, spending some time reflecting that this is truly a “personal invitation” from our Holy Father to each of us, inviting us to participate in this process. I hope and pray that, as many members of the Church throughout our diocese will respond to this invitation. There will be more details and information to be shared in the coming weeks and months, but one of the main resources that we will rely on in this process is the Parish Pastoral Council, working with the pastor and other parish leaders to, as the Vademecum says, humbly learn together how God is calling us to be as the Church in the third millennium.

The first step in this process here in our “local Church” (Diocese) is an Opening Mass. Dioceses have been asked to celebrate an Opening Mass on Sunday, Oct. 17, after Pope Francis celebrates an Opening Mass for the Universal Church on Oct. 10. In case dioceses are unable to celebrate on that particular day, they are invited to choose another date. On our diocesan calendar, we had planned (many months ago) to have Vivere Christus prayer service on Sunday, Oct. 17. I am looking forward to continuing the Vivere Christus tradition started by Bishop Serratelli, when two parishioners from each parish will be recognized for their service to their parish and the Diocese. The planning was too far along to change the date when we heard about the Synod.

I believe it may be providential that we had scheduled our annual World Mission Sunday Mass for Oct. 24 and the World Mission Sunday Mass can be celebrated as our Opening Mass for the Synod. In so much of the literature and preparation for the Synodal process, we are reminded of our call to be “missionary disciples,” so I believe that it is very fitting that we can celebrate these two moments at this Liturgy. All of our pastors and parishes have been asked to choose two representatives to attend the Opening Mass and we hope that those two parishioners will be involved in the parish effort to participate in the Synod process. We have also invited some other “ecclesial communities” and groups, such as our religious orders, school communities, deacons, and retired priests to send representatives.

I can already see that one of the benefits of the Synod will be a greater awareness of all the ecclesial communities, movements, and groups who make up the Church of our Diocese. If anyone is reading this and is not sure whether a particular group has been invited to send representatives to the Opening Mass, I would ask you to contact Father Paul Manning, our Vicar for Evangelization, who is heading the committee that is working on our plans for and participation in the Synod, especially over the next six months during this “First/Local Phase” in the process. Father Manning can be reached at: [email protected].

As I shared in my column last week, October, “Respect Life Month,” is certainly a busy month, but it is also a blessed month, as it is not only dedicated to our Blessed Mother as Our Lady of the Rosary, but it is filled with beautiful feast days of wonderful saints. I trust that the Synod will be a blessing for our Diocese and for the whole Church and it will be a reminder that we all share the “Baptismal Call to Holiness” — we are all called to be saints. Pope Francis has just sent us each a personal invitation to answer that call.