LOCAL NEWS

Thank You for participating!

In September 2021 Pope Francis invited each Roman Catholic diocese in the world to participate in the preparatory process for the upcoming 2023 Synod of Bishops on synodality. Each diocese was asked to enter into a consultative process to reflect on how the Church is “journeying together,” united in Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit.

In response the Archdiocese of San Francisco partnered with Catholic Leadership Institute to facilitate a twophase approach. Phase One (Jan. 15-Feb. 15) consisted of offering a survey tool called the Disciple Maker Index to each parish for a broad-based survey of our parishioners, assessing individual faith journeys and desires for greater parish engagement. Phase Two (Feb. 20-March 13) consisted of 25 listening sessions (16 in-person; nine virtual) in three different languages. The notes from these listening groups were synthesized by the facilitator for each session.

Since these two phases concluded, CLI has been conducting a series of training webinars (March 8-April 27) for pastors and parish leaders to learn how to work with and respond pastorally to the parish survey data. Moreover CLI has summarized the information that was obtained from both the surveys and the listening sessions and produced the 10-page synthesized report that each U.S. diocese has been asked to send to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In turn the USCCB, like every other national conference, will submit its own report to the Holy Father in advance of the upcoming Synod of Bishops. The Archdiocese of San Francisco report is available at www.sfarch.org/synod

While these national conference reports are informing the planning for the Synod of Bishops in Rome, CLI will return in September to facilitate a priest convocation, allowing the priests of the Archdiocese of San Francisco to review the survey results and the parishioner input from the listening sessions. This gathering will be an opportunity for the priests serving in our parishes to discuss how parishes are planning to respond and how they might collaborate.

Thank you to all who participated in the diocesan synodal process. Please continue to pray for the success of this upcoming synod especially around the themes Pope Francis has chosen: Communion, Participation and Mission.