Contextual Background
Most Reverend Nelson J. Pérez, Archbishop of Philadelphia, opened the Diocesan Phase of the Synod on Synodality in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on October 17, 2021.
Called for by Pope Francis, the Synod on Synodality is a multi-year process of spiritual discernment consisting of listening and dialogue throughout the Universal Church. The Holy Father called on Catholics around the world to reflect on the theme of “Communion, Participation, and Mission” in the context of the life of the Catholic Church.
The Synod provides an opportunity for serious reflection and action to deepen an understanding of the role of all the members of the Church, journeying together with Christ as our Head, in living the Gospel in our time.
In Fall 2022, the Archdiocese released its official summary of the Diocesan Phase of the Synod on Synodality which encapsulated the work of the Synod throughout the five-county Philadelphia region.
As part of the synodal process, that information was shared with other dioceses in the region as well as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which published the U.S. National Synthesis.
To read the official summary of the Diocesan Phase of the Synod on Synodality, please click the dedicated link below.
https://archphila.org/synodality-summary/
The second stage of the synodal process, the worldwide Continental Stage, commenced in late 2022 and concluded on March 31, 2023.
Today’s Announcement
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recently released the official summary of North American Final Document for the Continental Stage of the 2021-2024 Synod: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.
For the North American Continental Stage, the United States and Canada held 12 virtual assemblies in several languages December 2022 – January 2023. In total, 931 delegates and 146 Bishops from Canada and the United States were appointed to participate in one of these 12 assemblies to share their reflections and responses to the Document for the Continental Stage (DCS) issued by the Holy See’s General Secretariat of the Synod in October 2022. Those reflections were brought together by the North American Writing Team to create the Final Document.
The Final Document from North America, along with the contributions of the six other Continental Assemblies, will form the basis of the Instrumentum Laboris to be released by the General Secretariat of the Synod in June 2023.
To read the North American Final Document for the Continental Stage in English, please click the here. For Spanish, please click here.
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Editor’s Note: To learn more about the Synod on Synodality and its implementation in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, please visit https://archphila.org/synod/.
Contact: Alaina N. Longo
Deputy Communications Officer
215-587-3747 (office)