DIOCESE WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Last October, Pope Francis invited all Catholics - those in the mainstream and the margins - to share their dreams, ideas and concerns about the future mission of the Church in preparation for the Synod of Bishops in 2023.

Under the theme "For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission," the pope formally opened the synodal process at the Vatican on Oct. 9-10 and dioceses worldwide launched their campaigns Oct. 16-17. Saying “everyone of us has a role to play,” Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger celebrated a special liturgy Oct. 24 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany to mark the start of the worldwide synod.

Now the Diocese of Albany is asking for your input!

Three webinars, which will be facilitated by the Office of Lay Ministry and Parish Faith Formation and begin this month, will provide the faithful with a chance to pray, reflect and share their thoughts on the future mission of the Church. 

The webinars are scheduled for: Jan. 25, at 10 a.m. or 7 p.m., and titled “What is the Synod and Why Should I Care? Part 1: A True Season of the Spirit;” Feb. 1, 10 a.m. or 7 p.m., and titled “What is the Synod and Why Should I Care? Part 2: Walking & Listening Together,” and Feb. 8, 10 a.m. or 7 p.m., and titled “What is the Synod and Why Should I Care? Part 3: All the Baptized – Co-responsible for Mission.”

David Amico, diocesan director for the Office of Lay Ministry and Parish Faith Formation, said synods are nothing new but the idea of inclusiveness is.

“The notion of a synod has been around a long time in the Church’s life. In the Eastern Church this is how they govern themselves, in the Western Church, it was Pope Paul VI who revived the Synod of Bishops in 1965,” Amico said. “There’s always been an effort of having consultation before a synod, but I think the striking thing about this is that Pope Francis wants to hear from as wide a consultation as possible and wants everyone to feel that they have a voice.”

All priests, parish life coordinators, administrators, parish staff, parishioners and others are invited to attend the free webinars that will be offered in the morning and in the evening. All sessions are via Zoom and a link and password will be sent when you register. Each session has a separate registration and is approximately 90 minutes long. To register, head to: webapps.rcda.org/ParishFaithFormation/

Dioceses and parishes will be engaged in four months of discussions and submit a summary of local discussions by April 1 to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which will then present a final written report for the Vatican. Once the Vatican receives the worldwide diocesan reports, the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops will draft by September a working document to guide continental or regional ecclesial assemblies that will take place by March 2023. Those assemblies will produce another set of documents that will help in the drafting of a second working document for the Synod of Bishops in October 2023. The synod is expected to produce a final document on synodality throughout the Church.

With how polarized society is, the synod may be coming at the perfect time.

“I do think it is more important than ever because we are definitely prone to living in our camps whatever they might be,” Amico added. “And as someone has said, the Church is a rather large tent, and everyone should feel that they have a place within that tent. So hopefully this process will help foster that inclusiveness. If you are not listening to one another or constantly arguing with one another, it impedes the mission because you are not trying to walk together and I think that is what the Pope is hoping will happen.

“We are trying to capture the widest audience possible, leaders of all kinds in the Church as well as any parishioners. It is meant for everybody to provide a foundational understanding of what the vision of being a synodal Church is.” 

And it is a vision that will be guided by the Holy Spirit.

“It is about harmonizing our vocations within the church and it is a prophetic path because we are seeing that we want to be church together in a way that the world probably doesn’t understand,” Amico said. “We want to walk together, we want to listen deeply to one another and from that discern where the Spirit is leading us. It really is meant to be an experience of the Holy Spirit, of our listening together to the Spirit by listening to one another and hopefully going in the direction that the Spirit is prompting us.”

DIOCESAN SYNOD COMMITTEE: Led by Bishop Scharfenberger, 15 people have been announced as members of the Diocesan Synod Committee. The other members of the committee include: Father David LeFort, vicar general; Father Robert Longobucco, vicar general; Bonni Shippee, COO; David Amico, director, Office of Lay Ministry and Parish Faith Formation; Amy Brozio-Andrews, diocesan archivist; Sister Danielle Bonetti, CSJ, Justice Ministry coordinator, Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Albany Province; Irina Clark, parishioner, St. Anthony in Schenectady; Thomas Cronin, adviser to the Bishop on Evangelization; Erina Dacey, Human Resources Office, Diocese of Albany; Emily Hampton, Communications Office, Diocese of Albany; Mary Howard, parishioner, Holy Trinity Parish in Hudson; Caitie Lashbrooks, coordinator for Youth & Young Adult Ministries, Church of the Immaculate Conception in Glenville, Our Lady of Grace, and St. Joseph's; Richard Putorti, Director of Music, St. Mary’s Church in Crescent; Father Matthew Wetsel, pastor, Church of the Holy Spirit in Gloversville and Holy Trinity Church in Johnstown.