… We recall that the purpose of the Synod, and therefore of this consultation, is not to produce documents, but to plant dreams, draw forth prophecies and visions, allow hope to flourish, inspire trust, bind up wounds, weave together relationships, awaken a dawn of hope, learn from one another, and create a bright resourcefulness that will enlighten minds, warm hearts, give strength to our hands … (Pope Francis)
2023 Synod Resources & Information
Thank you for Making Your Voices Heard
Voice of the Faithful conducted Synod listening sessions from January through May this year, and we are preparing a report from all your voices now. As noted during the sessions, all participants will have an opportunity to review our report before we deliver it to the General Secretariat in Rome. We also will publish the final report here and distribute copies to participants.
All the resources that were available during the sessions will remain here, for later and ongoing reference. The initial global listening phase is only the first step in the ongoing return of our Church to its roots as a synodal Church, in action and in decisionmaking. Resources to guide your efforts in the future will remain relevant.
“Conversations on Synodality” webinar with Prof. Rafael Luciani and Prof. Kristin Colberg now available on VOTF Vimeo channel.
VOTF video on what the Synod is and how to participate
2023 Synod Resources
- Click here to go to the Vatican’s website on the Synod on Synodality
- KEY DOCUMENTS: Vatican’s Preparatory Document for the 2023 Synod and the Vademecum for the Synod on Synodality, which is the official handbook for listening and discernment in local churches during the first phase of the 2023 Synod from October 2021 through April 2022 in dioceses and bishops’ conferences leading up to the Assembly of Bishops in Synod in October 2023
- Timeline graphic showing the stages leading up to the October 2023 Synod bishops’ meeting
- Comprehensive guide to conducing mini-synods to gather information and listen to views in advance of preparing input into the 2023 Synod process
- Slide presentation on synodality and the 2021-2023 Synod process prepared by the Gereral Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
- Access via Boston College’s Student Voices Project 2022 for high school, college, and graduate students to talk about the Synod. Scroll all the way to the bottom for the initial survey link.
- Definitions of papal documents, placing the Synod and its process among the most important documents a pope issues
- The Synodus Episcoporum: For a synodal Church communion, participation and mission — XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
- Voice of the Faithful’s inclusive document “Information Resources on Synods, Synodality and the 2023 Synod”
- Leadership Roundtable’s For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission — Process for Facilitating Synodal Consultations
- Links to all of the Vatican II documents (also see “How do we prepare for a synodal process? Start with the documents of Vatican II,” by Michael Sean Winters, National Catholic Reporter)
- “The Church on the way: Prayer for a synodal Church” from the Vatican
- Sign up for The Synodal Journey Newsletter by the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops
- Synod Consultation Plans, map of U.S. archdioceses and dioceses from National Catholic Reporter that have synod consultation plans
- RESULTADOS Asamblea Ecclesial, Forty-one pastoral challenges identified during the synodal process in Latin America and the Caribbean during summer and fall 2021
- Flyer in English & Spanish containing Prayers for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops — “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission” (2021-2023). You may download, print and fold these flyers and use them wherever you feel you have a receptive audience.
- Biblical Resources for Synodality, by Commission on Spirituality, Biblical Sub-Group, March 2022
- Towards a Spirituality for Synodality, by Commission on Spirituality Sub-Group — Spirituality for Synodality, June 2022
Videos About Synodality
“Why participate in the Synod?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67AzH2ZlAac
Sr. Natalie Becquart (of the General Secretariat) on synodality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf4ixP21R6U
“A new way of being Church” by Prof. Rafael Luciani (one-hour lecture): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsMhhRKzzcI
“From Episcopal Collegiality to Ecclesial Synodality,” a lecture by Prof. Massimo Faggioli: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31KMA5kZVD0
“Webinar: For a Synodal Church,” by Discerning Deacons features Profs. Kristen Colberg, Rafael Luciani, and Hosffman Ospino–all specialists in ecclesiology and synodality–speaking about what Pope Francis is inviting us to do.
“From the Margins to the Center” by Fr. Robert Choiniere for the New Ways ministry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6nk41o2-uk
VOTF video on what the Synod is and how to participate, presented by VOTF Executive Director Donna Doucette (videographer Vincent Rocchio)
Toward a Synodal Church: Co-Responsibility and the Lay Apostolate, presented by the Catholic Appostolate Center
2023 Synod Media Coverage
- Listening and Discernment, by Thierry Bonaventura, SynodResources.org Editorial Staff
- Justice and Peace in the Synod Process, by Synod Resources.org
- New head of umbrella group for women’s religious sets sights on synodality, by Elise Ann Allen, Cruxnow.com
- Pope discusses synodal process with professors from America, by VaticanNews.va.en
- Robust synodal reports stand witness to the courage of participants in the process, by Frank Callus, The Tablet
- First U.S. diocesan synod results show need to reach youth, marginalized, by John Lavenburg, Cruxnow.com
Cardinal Tobin: refusing to deal with complexity in the church is a form of heresy, by Michael J. O’Loughlin, America: The Jesuit Review
Pope launches synodal process to discern Holy Spirit’s call to the church, by Dennis Sadowski, Catholic News Service, in National Catholic Reporter
Pope Francis: Rigidity in the church ‘is a sin against the patience of God,’ by Gerard O’Connell, America: The Jesuit Review
- With new synodal process, Francis creates an insurance policy for reforms, by Massimo Faggioli, La Croix International, on NCRonline.org
- A closer look at synodality and its promise for a more inclusive church, by Hosffman Ospino, National Catholic Reporter
- Encuentros: Learning from 50 years of synodal experience–if we have been paying attention by Hosffman Ospino, National Catholic Reporter
- Speak Boldly, Listen Carefully: Inside the Synod, by Austen Invereigh, Commmonweal magazine
- Editorial: A Ministry of Listening: On the Opening of the Synod, by Michael Centore, Editor, Today’s American Catholic
- Encuentros: Learning from 50 years of synodal experience — if we’ve been paying attention, by Hosffman Ospino, Naitonal Catholic Reporter
- Synod phase for local listening gets an uneven start in U.S. dioceses, by Brian Fraga, National Catholic Reporter
- Synod on Synodality, National Catholic Reporter coverage of the Synod on Synodality, including a link to a map of U.S. archdioceses and dioceses that have synod consultation plans
- An unprecedented gathering in Latin America is putting Pope Francis’ vision for the church into action, by Colleen Dulle, Inside the Vatican, America: The Jesuit Review
- Largest Native American diocese takes unique approach to synod, by John Lavenburg, Cruxnow.com
- Is Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality bound to dissapoint–or will it renew the Church? by Louis J. Cameli, America: The Jesuit Review
- Synodality and ecumenism require walking together, say cardinals, by Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service, in National Catholic Reporter
- American Catholics need to shed some habits to get in the synodal spirit, by Michael Sean Winters, National Catholic Reporter
- Unexcused absence: Why aren’t colleges more involved in the synod? by Massimo Faggioli, Commonweal
- Where German Catholics & Pope Francis diverge: Germany’s ‘synodal way’ charts its own course to reform, by Massimo Faggioli, Commonweal
- Catholic college leaders urged to listen up in synod sessions, by Carol Zimmermann, Catholic News Service
- Pope Francis says the synod must hear ‘excluded’ voices. These five dioceses are trying. By Brian Fraga, National Catholic Reporter
- ‘We are all responsible together for what the church becomes’: Vatican II, synodality and the future of Catholicism, by Kenneth L. Woodward, America: The Jesuit Review
- Pope Francis’ synodality could be key to reaching young Catholics, by Ernest J. Miller, National Catholic Reporter