Our Synodal Roadmap

Listening to the People of God

In one of the “58,000 Cups of Coffee” conversations hosted by the Diocese of Davenport during the Synod, a man who grew up in a non-denominational Christian church shared how he recalled his family being part of founding that church.

As they worked to establish their church, everyone knew that it took all of them — every member — to make the community work. Now, an adult and a Catholic in the Diocese of Davenport, the man shared that his experience in the Catholic Church was noticeably different. Where every member of his childhood church was needed to make their community work, at his Catholic parish, he could be anonymous.

Patrick Schmadeke, director of evangelization for the Diocese of Davenport, shared the story of his conversation with the man during the 2022 Catholic Partnership Summit to illustrate some of what the Church has learned in the ongoing Synod process.

“There was sort of — at least in our diocese, among many people — a perception that the Church is sort of this sociological fact that exists and endures through time and space independent of my existence,” said Schmadeke. “We really have to turn and look in the mirror and wonder: How do each of us contribute to our parish communities, in the broader Church, and how can we invite greater participation on the part of others in the life of the Church?”

Schmadeke was one of the leaders of Davenport’s synodal process and served on the opening panel of the Summit along with Rev. John Hurley, CSP, and Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory.

Our Synodal Roadmap

The opening session focused on a theme of Our Synodal Roadmap, looking both at our collective Synodal journey thus far — what has worked, what has not worked, and what has been learned through the Synodal process by parishes, dioceses, and leaders — and what is needed to continue becoming a synodal Church.

“Learning to live synodaly will help heal the divisions and lessen the chasms within our Church, our country and our world,” noted Kerry Alys Robinson, executive partner of Leadership Roundtable and moderator of the panel. “The potential of this invitation to dream new ways of being in relationship to one another and a more faithful way of being Church is a gift of new life not to be squandered.”

“This Synod on Synodality is a call and an opportunity for the entire global Church to walk together and to listen to one another in our local communities,” Cardinal Gregory said. “I am deeply grateful that Pope Francis himself has been a model of both listening and accepting and loving those in the Church, even those that might disagree with him.”

The heart of the People of God

Schmadeke shared that in the Diocese of Davenport, each conversation over coffee started with two simple questions: What breaks your heart? And what fills your heart?

“What’s on people’s hearts is what is a directive for them personally,” Schmadeke said.

Fr. Hurley, the founder of New Evangelization Strategies, has been hosting synods in the Diocese of

San Diego for years, leading both a synod on Amoris Laetitia (the Joy of Love) in 2016 and, beginning in 2019, a synod for young adults, “Christ Lives: A Time of Dreams and Decisions.” He also has been helping lead the current Synod process in San Diego.

In each synod, Fr. Hurley noticed an eagerness of those who participated to share their experiences.

“In both of these synods, parishioners who were engaged in the process did not hold back,” he said. “And it’s OK for us to hear, as Patrick was saying, what is on the hearts of our faithful and also those who struggled.”

In the Archdiocese of Washington, Cardinal Gregory, who is archbishop, said that the Synod revealed that parishioners really honor and support their priests and pastors. But the Synod organizers told him: “Cardinal, the bishops did not fare as well.”

“I was not offended, first of all, because I think I needed to hear that,” Gregory said of the criticisms of the bishops that arose during the Synod. “But it also gave me impetus to do what I have always really felt: I am most ‘bishop’ when I’m with my people and perhaps least ‘bishop’ when I’m in the office. So I really felt it was an impetus for me to get out more directly and be involved in the ordinary parish life of my people.”

The Synod in the United States

The Synod experiences in Davenport, Washington, and San Diego mirror those in dioceses across the United States. Just days before the 2022 Catholic Partnership Summit, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued their synthesis report on all the diocesan Synod consultations in the United States.

Among the core themes that emerged, Catholics across the country highlighted a desire for a more welcoming Church, similar to what was raised in Davenport.

Catholics also raised the many wounds felt throughout the body of Christ, which Hurley noted were also raised in the consultations in San Diego.

And Catholics across the country, not just in the Archdiocese of Washington, called out the bishops for leadership failures in recent crises.

But the report also noted that Catholics across the country are eager to help the Church heal and move forward.

Listening and Leading

“Just the act of listening has generational, communal impacts,” Schmadeke said.

have walked away and taken her family with her.

Fr. Hurley said he learned early from a professor at The Catholic University of America that “you can listen people into existence.” The Church, he said, is called to accompany people and that means knowing where they began their journey — something learned by listening.

While he noted how years of not listening led many to leave the Church, he encouraged leaders to not allow listening to be the end of the process, but to start looking to what must come next: action.

“We have heard from the faithful, and I think, it’s now consulting with them. That means the participants and those engaged in the process are collaborating with us to come up with some resolutions,” he said.

“Authentic synodality is truly a co-responsible experience and there is nothing to fear except fear itself,” Fr. Hurley went on to say, applying the famous quote by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Synodal processes. “The richness of diversity in consultation does not happen by accident in our dioceses. We have to be intentional about making sure all the voices are there before we can even begin our conversation.”

Who is at the leadership table and their formation as leaders are also key, according to Cardinal Gregory.

Schmadeke detailed a conversation during the Synod in Davenport with a woman, a former parish leader, who left the Church after she felt she was pushed out. Years later, she now attends a non-Catholic church in town. Had she been listened to back then, like she was during the Synod process, she told the diocese she would not

“One of the ways that we can live and lead in a synodal way as we continue is for bishops, together with Church leaders, to consciously hire and retain and form qualified clergy, religious, and lay leaders — people in leadership roles,” he said.

Formation for leaders, called for in canon law, is critical for the Church as it continues living out the call to synodality, Schmadeke said. In their reflections on the Synod process in the Diocese of Davenport, organizers agreed that formation of leaders must be a top priority. voice of the Holy Spirit,” he said.

“How well are those leaders formed in human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral interventions?" Schmadeke asked rhetorically. “Because that is what is the foundation and groundwork for this to be lived out well.”

He went on to add: “Our formation as leaders, and as we facilitate the formation of others, comes down to the relationship between the person and the Holy Spirit in the context of the faith community. So let’s continue to attend to these things.”

Civility, Compassion, and the Holy Spirit

Noting the strong polarization that exists in Washington, D.C., home of his diocese, Cardinal Gregory emphasized that there is a need right now for civility and compassion for one another, among all people of faith. He also talked frankly about the discourse and division among the U.S. Bishops.

Gregory said that while disagreement has always been present among the bishops, the division noted in the national synthesis report has recently worsened.

“Given the division and the discord that is all too common and too frequent, this Synod process is helping us to pause and to focus ourselves to hear the

He expanded upon this concept saying, “Listening has to be an open-ended activity. I don’t listen to you to catch the flaws in what you are saying. I don’t listen to you in order to prepare my reply. I listen to you to learn from you. And it doesn’t mean that I always agree with you. However, listening is an act of respect for the person. I listen to people because I believe that they have a dignity that comes from God and they just might be speaking for the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit’s role in synodality and the Synodal process was also touched upon by Fr. Hurley, who noted that leaders need to be open to the Holy Spirit if we as a Church and as a People of God are going to live authentic synodality.

“Sometimes we get in the way,” he said. Recalling that Cardinal Mario Grech in his keynote address encouraged leaders to make room for the Holy Spirit in their synodal work, Hurley concluded: “I think that’s the key to the success of all of this.”

Cardinal Gregory offered similar advice, adding: “We need to ground everything that we do in the Church as members of the Church in prayer and not lose sight of how important prayer is — that we must be in, and we must engage in it, in order to do anything in our lives.”