Dr. Julia S. McStravog is the Senior Advisor for the Synod at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). She has a ThD in Catholic Studies focused on the Theology of Dialogue from La Salle University, an MA in Interreligious Dialogue from Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, and a BA in Theology from Marymount University. She is a member of the National Council of Synagogues-USCCB Jewish-Catholic Dialogue. She previously worked in Programs on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at USCCB.
During his September 2015 visit to the United States, Pope Francis had a meeting with the U.S. Bishops at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, DC. He addressed them, saying:
Dialogue is our method, not as a shrewd strategy but out of fidelity to the One who never wearies of visiting the marketplace, even at the eleventh hour, to propose his offer of love (Mt 20:1-16). The path ahead, then, is dialogue among yourselves, dialogue in your presbyterates, dialogue with lay persons, dialogue with families, dialogue with society. I cannot ever tire of encouraging you to dialogue fearlessly. The richer the heritage which you are called to share with parrhesia, the more eloquent should be the humility with which you should offer it. Do not be afraid to set out on that “exodus” which is necessary for all authentic dialogue. Otherwise, we fail to understand the thinking of others, or to realize deep down that the brother or sister we wish to reach and redeem, with the power and the closeness of love, counts more than their positions, distant as they may be from what we hold as true and certain.1
Pope Francis’ speech expressed an aspirational vision of a synodal Church, one that views dialogue as the default method for engagement, modeling love of and for Christ through deep relationships among the People of God. His desire to accompany, encourage, and support the bishops in a renewal of their own relationships – with one another and with their flocks – was evident. Six years later, the Holy Father would announce the 2021-2024 Synod: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.2 Using the ancient Christian tradition of the synod of bishops – renewed by Pope Saint Paul VI after the Second Vatican Council and given new life by Pope Francis in the 2018 apostolic constitution Episcopalis Communio3 – the 2021-2024 Synod centered on the question of how to be a “synodal Church,” in which relationships of dialogue and discernment weave and form the ecclesial tapestry.
The Synod is also an extension of the Second Vatican Council itself, an implementation and continuation of the Council’s vision of dialogue and relationship.4 Indeed, both dialogue and relationship – themselves fruits of the Council’s teaching and learning – were central to the development of the Council’s final documents. This is especially true, as I have argued elsewhere,5 of the Declaration on the Relations of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate, and the Decree on Religious Liberty, Dignitatis Humanae. After the Council, Catholics embarked on a journey marked by deep relationship with practitioners of other faiths and Christian traditions.
It was in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue – born of a Catholic anthropology rooted in the dignity of the human person – that the Church refined its dialogue skills: deep, long-term relationships marked by profound listening.
It was in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue – born of a Catholic anthropology rooted in the dignity of the human person – that the Church refined its dialogue skills: deep, long-term relationships marked by profound listening. The lessons the Church has learned from its external relationships (with, for example, non-Catholic Christians and with the Jewish people) still remain to be applied internally, as well as with societies and cultures more broadly. The synodal process is nothing if not a Church-wide opportunity to reap these dialogical fruits: to form Catholics spiritually in the practices of dialogue that the Church has been honing for over half a century in its ecumenical and interreligious relations.
In light of this recent history, it is clear that from the Synod’s inception, the Pope’s intention has been to form spiritually a billion Catholics across the world to become dialogical and discerning as they exercise their ministries and engage in relationships, both with one another and with the wider world. For example, the Synod’s Vademecum and its Preparatory Document aimed to ensure that prayer, silence, and reflection were integral aspects of listening, sharing, and developing synodal relationships.6 Synodality requires – and is itself – a spiritual practice that nourishes the People of God, enabling and enhancing ecclesial conversations. Fundamentally, the synodal process is a path aimed at conversion, fostering greater attentiveness to the Holy Spirit and to the Lord’s will.
The synodal process is nothing if not a Church-wide opportunity to reap these dialogical fruits: to form Catholics spiritually in the practices of dialogue that the Church has been honing for over half a century in its ecumenical and interreligious relations.
At the start of the Synod, there was – it must be admitted – a lot of criticism: it was to be a meeting about meetings, a self-referential exercise in navel-gazing. These critiques, however, miss a crucial point that Pope Francis outlined in his synodal aspirations: in order to listen and dialogue, it is essential to have a deep knowledge of self. It is essential to pay attention to what one might call pressure points: what triggers discomfort, what wounds emerge, and what elicits joy. This required self- knowledge is, one could say, the most difficult part about being in dialogue, and spiritual formation is a key factor in honing a self-understanding that leads to humility.
What did this spiritual formation process look like over the past years in the dioceses of the United States? I discern three stages of the synodal process between 2021 and 2024: (a) local listening, (b) the writing of the syntheses, and (c) post-Synod next steps. I will treat each in turn.
First Steps: Local Listening
In October 2021, the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Synod requested that a consultation be held throughout the country, collecting stories, wisdom, and information in preparation for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod, which was to focus on the themes of “Communion, Participation, and Mission.”7 The findings of this Diocesan Stage were to be synthesized in a ten-page report, handled by the U.S. Synod Team composed of Bishop Daniel E. Flores and USCCB staff: Richard Coll, Alexandra Carroll, Fr. Michael Fuller, and myself.
The scope of consultation would be huge. The United States comprises 178 Latin Rite dioceses, including the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter and the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, as well as 18 Eastern Rite eparchies representing approximately 75% of the Eastern churches in communion with Rome. In addition, the Catholic Church in the United States oversees many ministries that reach beyond the Church’s parochial structure, such as Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services.8 Further, Catholic schools, colleges, and universities educate all people, not only Catholics.9
The U.S. Synod team was to foster, facilitate, and watch over layered and complex listening that was happening throughout the country. The Synod Secretariat did not promulgate a one-size-fits all checklist for each bishops’ conference to complete; rather, they provided a flexible framework for listening, consulting, and synthesizing at each stage of the Synod that each local Church could adapt. The U.S. Synod team was itself to model the synodality called for by the documents. It was crucial that the team work well together, pray together, and reflect together, speaking respectfully yet boldly and with humility. Centered in the Spirit, the team sought to discern where the Spirit was moving in the U.S. Church. This was, of course, exercised within the limitations and boundaries of the existing structures and resources of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.10
The consultation – and subsequent synthesizing – required not only theological competency but also project planning and management skills. It necessitated accompanying those who were to handle consultations within each diocese and eparchy. Thus, one of the most consequential activities of the U.S. Synod Team was the convening of ministers and leaders accompanying the work of synodality at the local level. These regular meetings began in December 2021. They served not only to strengthen the USCCB’s relationship with dioceses with respect to synodality, but also an opportunity for inter-diocesan relationship building. These meetings were opportunities to offer support in the midst of deeper listening to the needs, challenges, and joys of the work of synodal consultations and to the ongoing processes of implementing synodality.
Because of the strong relationships that were formed, diocesan leaders contributed immensely to the Synod process in the United States. They provided honest feedback, constructive criticism, and affirmation of what worked well. Some diocesan leaders participated in reading and reviewing the documents submitted to the Synod Secretariat. I am very proud of the documents we produced, and they simply would not have existed without the tireless work of our diocesan leaders. Simply put, diocesan leaders and the members of the U.S. Synod Team were mutual companions on the synodal journey. We were present to them, and they accompanied us. Working together, we continually attempted to be attentive to the Holy Spirit.
Often narratives surrounding the Synod have been focused on outcomes – about what happened in Rome and what was included (or excluded) from the resulting documents. True synodality, however, is enacted on the local level. It is principally about listening to all voices, as the Vademecum says, and training people in dialogue.
Often narratives surrounding the Synod have been focused on outcomes – about what happened in Rome and what was included (or excluded) from the resulting documents. True synodality, however, is enacted on the local level. It is principally about listening to all voices, as the Vademecum says, and training people in dialogue. No voices are excluded. In accord with the vision of Pope Francis, synodality offers a way for members of the Church not only to engage with one another internally – that is, within the boundaries of Church life – but also to bring the skills involved to their everyday lives. Synodality invites Catholics to engage others with curiosity, dignity, and love wherever they may find themselves.
Writing Syntheses
Preparation was a central aspect both of participating in listening sessions and in the process of synthesizing reports from local churches at the national level. The process required mutual listening that began at the parish level, local listening that resulted in diocesan syntheses shared with the USCCB. This preparation for and engagement in listening and synthesizing was part of the synodal spiritual formation process.
Consultations at the local level asked the People of God to be vulnerable, to share their wounds – many of which concerned the Church itself. The process of drafting a synthesis thus sought to honor these sacred stories entrusted to the Church through consultations.
Concretely, the drafting process took the form of writing retreats. The U.S. Synod Team participated in three writing retreats, one for each document submitted to the Synod Secretariat: the National Synthesis of the People of God in the United States of America for the 2021-2023 Synod (August 2022), the North American Final Document for the Continental Stage of the 2021-2024 Synod (March 2023), and the National Synthesis of the People of God in the United States of America for the Interim Stage of the 2021-2024 Synod (May 2024).11 Each of these documents was collected by the Synod Secretariat and used in the discernment for and drafting of the Document for the Continental Stage (October 2022), the Instrumentum Laboris for the First Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (June 2023), and the Instrumentum Laboris for the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (July 2024), respectively.12
As mentioned above, the United States is one of the largest and most complex national churches in the world. It was, needless to say, a challenging task to synthesize the fruit of many consultations into documents that reflected the parameters and expectations set forth by the Synod Secretariat. For the Diocesan and Interim Stages of the Synod, the U.S. Synod Team relied on the geographic regions – geographical groupings of dioceses – to synthesize the diocesan reports from their respective regions. This gave the U.S. Synod team a manageable amount of material to discern and develop national syntheses.
Concurrent to local consultations, the U.S. Synod Team also held listening sessions on the national level around particular themes that emerged from the documents from the Synod Secretariat. These occurred particularly during the Continental Stage, when notes from twelve different online Continental Assemblies hosted with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops provided source material for later synthesis.13 Sessions were held in English, French, and Spanish. At least one of the eleven U.S. members of the continental writing retreat team was present at each session, and the eleven collectively participated in over fifty assemblies. Being present in real time for the sharing of the fruits of Conversations in the Spirit was essential for participating in the development and drafting of syntheses.
Drafting syntheses required more than reading and summarizing consultation documents. Members of writing retreat teams prayed with these fruits of consultations. They noted consonances and dissonances between different voices. They were mindful both of multiply attested themes and of those that did not appear frequently. They sought Scriptural connections and resonances. This attentive and prayerful reading was necessary preparation for the communal discernment required to create a centering statement for a synthesis document, to outline themes to be included, and to identify quotations from the People of God that support and reinforce the text of the synthesis.
Each document was written collaboratively, rooted both in individual preparation and communal discernment. Discernment requires thinking through various questions. For the writing of the syntheses, some of these questions included: What are we hearing? What are the People saying? What are the underlying sentiments? Are all regions represented?
A key aspect of the synthesis process was the communal reading – out loud! – of document drafts. Reading and hearing a text aloud triggers different parts of the brain than would be stimulated by mere private reading. Reading aloud provided the drafters with an opportunity to note if parts of the text sounded strange or did not fully capture the nuance of a particular theme or idea that emerged in the diocesan syntheses. Reading aloud offered an opportunity for the drafters once again to listen to the voices of the People of God, because the documents are rife with direct quotations. There were instances when a particular word was discussed at length. Immense care and consideration were given to the final text of the syntheses.
An important note: synthesis documents are not teaching documents. They are listening documents. Thus it was crucial that these documents reflected the word and witness of the People of God. The process was always firmly rooted in local consultation, and bore fruit through listening and discernment on diocesan, national, and continental levels.
What Next?
The apostolic constitution Episcopalis Communio established an “implementation phase” at the conclusion of synods. The Church is currently in this stage. While the meetings for the 2021-2024 Synod have concluded in Rome, and Pope Francis has endorsed the Final Document as magisterial,14 the work of implementing a culture of synodality – of personal prayer, communal discernment, and spiritual dialogue – is just beginning. Synodality has been referred to as a “generational project;” there are some recommendations that can be implemented immediately, and some issues that are in need of further study and review.
While the meetings for the 2021-2024 Synod have concluded in Rome, and Pope Francis has endorsed the Final Document as magisterial,14 the work of implementing a culture of synodality – of personal prayer, communal discernment, and spiritual dialogue – is just beginning.
Some of these issues have been tasked to ten Study Groups working in collaboration with consultants, dicasteries, and the Synod Secretariat.15 These groups provided updates to the members of the Synod Assembly in October 2024 and are due to submit their final reports to the Synod Secretariat in June 2025. One of these groups, Study Group Ten, is responsible for the “The Reception of the Fruits of the Ecumenical Journey in Ecclesial Practices.”16 Pope Francis has insisted upon synodality’s ecumenical dimension, inviting ecumenical partners to observe the Synod Assemblies in Rome as well as incorporating ecumenical prayer services into both sessions. There is much potential for the synodal journey in the United States to become more ecumenically expansive.
During the 2024 USCCB November Plenary Meeting in Baltimore, the body of bishops took a voice vote in favor of the Committee on Priorities and Plans taking up the creation of a Synod Task Force for the Conference. This Task Force would ascertain the needs and priorities of the bishops in the United States with respect to implementing the fruits of the Synod – both locally (the fruits of consultations in parishes and dioceses) and nationally/universally (in the wake of the Final Document). Hopefully the Synod Task Force and its mandate will be announced in the coming months.
Pope Francis has insisted upon synodality’s ecumenical dimension, inviting ecumenical partners to observe the Synod Assemblies in Rome as well as incorporating ecumenical prayer services into both sessions. There is much potential for the synodal journey in the United States to become more ecumenically expansive.
The synodal path requires that the People of God in the United States be attentive to the workings of the Holy Spirit in all aspects of the Church. It requires an openness, a nimbleness, and an obedience to God’s will discerned through careful and faithful listening. An authentic, synodal desire wells up: that the Church, the People of God together with their pastors, grow in holy curiosity, hospitality, and the capacity for dialogue. While the synod process in the U.S. has certainly experienced limitations and challenges, there has also been much joy and celebration. As the North American Final Document for the Continental Stage says, “the synodal process has not been perfect, but it has been good.”17
Notes
2. https://www.synod.va/en.html.
4. https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/index.htm.
5. Julia McStravog “Dialogue Fearlessly: The Catholic Church’s Theological Key to Fostering and Safeguarding Human Dignity in Our Time.” ThD dissertation, La Salle University, 2023.
6. https://www.usccb.org/resources/Vademecum-EN-A4.pdf; https://www.usccb.org/resources/Documento-Preparatorio-EN-21.pdf.
7. http://secretariat.synod.va/content/synod/en.html.
8. https://www.catholiccharitiesdc.org/; https://www.crs.org/.
9. https://ncea.org/NCEA/NCEA/NCEA_Home_Page.aspx; https://www.accunet.org/.
10. http://www.usccb.org/synod.
11. https://www.usccb.org/resources/US National Synthesis 2021-2023 Synod.pdf; https://www.usccb.org/resources/North American Final Document – English.pdf; https://www.usccb.org/resources/Interim Stage Document English – FINAL.pdf.
12. https://www.usccb.org/resources/Documento-Tappa-Continentale-EN.pdf; https://www.usccb.org/resources/ENG_INSTRUMENTUM-LABORIS.pdf; https://www.usccb.org/resources/ENG-INSTRUMENTUM-LABORIS-A4 (2024).pdf.
14. https://www.usccb.org/resources/ENG—Documento-finale_traduzione-di-lavoro.pdf.
17. North American Final Document for the Continental Stage, paragraph 57.