Catholic organizations call for continued outreach to marginalized, active lay involvement as Synod process continues.
February 13, 2023:
We are the leaders of organizations representing Catholics from around the United States who have deep commitment to the possibilities offered by the global Synodal process currently underway in our Church.
We believe that the participation of tens of thousands of Catholics in the first phase of this initiative demonstrates the hunger that so many of the faithful have to have their voices, their needs, their hopes and concerns heard by our Church’s leaders. The opportunity to speak about the importance of faith in their lives, how the Church supports and fails them, and the issues of deepest significance to them was empowering for many, and a challenge for many others.
It was heartening that the Vatican’s report on the first phase of the Synod, released in October 2022, explicitly acknowledged the need to better address many issues. The Church identified the ongoing impacts of clergy sexual abuse, the inequity of women, the pain of LGBTQ+ people and families, the numbers of young people leaving, poor access for people with disabilities or addictions, the stress on the declining number of priests and religious, and even the need to care for the children of priests and the mothers of these children as critical concerns to be addressed through the Synod process. The report’s inclusion of the perspectives of those who have for too long been a “silenced majority” marked what many hope is a turning point for the Church. We and our members agree that the Church must do better on all of these fronts.
We are concerned that, as the Synodal process moves into the Continental Phase and beyond, the plan seems to limit participation in a way that may exclude important perspectives on these and other issues. Much of the success of the Synod’s first phase was its expansiveness, and, especially, the explicit invitation for typically marginalized people to participate. If there are no mechanisms or mandates that this continues to be a priority, we fear that the promise of the first year will be lost.
In the spirit of synodality and out of our deep hope for a Church that is committed to listening and dialogue, we suggest the following practical steps to encourage all Catholics to remain engaged in and hopeful about this new way of being together:
· Appoint mutually trusted liaisons to keep open lines of communication between Synod leaders and historically marginalized Catholics including women, LGBTQ+ persons, Black and Indigenous Catholics, young Catholics, divorced and remarried Catholics, victims of clergy sexual abuse, people with disabilities, and those who have sought or received abortion care.
· Release a draft of the North American Continental Synthesis and provide a mechanism for receiving and incorporating feedback on the draft prior to the March 31st deadline.
· Create a space for Catholics to provide input on the characteristics and qualities we would like to see in our national representatives to the Synod Assembly in Rome in October 2023.
We, the undersigned organizations, call on the Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops, national Bishops’ Conferences, and individual bishops to ensure that the Synod maintains broad participation, welcoming a wide range of perspectives, and that the expertise of lay people on these critical issues is utilized in the remaining stages of the Synod.
Endorsed By:
Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church
Call To Action
Catholics for Choice
Chicago Women-Church
CORPUS
DignityUSA
Families With Dignity
FutureChurch
Mary's Pence - Funding Women. Changing Lives.
Roman Catholic Womenpriests
San Francisco Bay Area Women-Church
Southeastern Pennsylvania Women’s Ordination Conference
Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER)
Women’s Ordination Conference