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Pope Francis wants to hear from people.
Everyone, whatever their faith.
The Pope established a framework for the bishops of all Roman Catholic dioceses to reach out to communities and listen to them – around the world.
He called for an Earth-encompassing synod on synodality. The synod is an ancient Christian practice of listening, discussing and discerning beliefs.
“I am not aware of any effort within the scope of this,” said Helen Osman, director of communications for the Diocese of Jefferson City. “The Pope has asked every diocese in the world to do this.”
What they do is listen.
Not just to Catholics. All those who live within the geography of each diocese are invited to join in the conversations.
To sign up for an online listening session, visit diojeffcity.org/synod. There will be four online sessions. Check the diocese’s websites for times and dates and to register in advance.
“Although not required, your prior registration will ensure that we have adequate materials and resources,” according to the diocese’s website.
The diocese is able to offer online sessions in English or Spanish.
In-person sessions begin from 10 am to 11:30 am on January 29 at St. Pius X Church, 210 s. Williams Street, in Moberly. The following in-person sessions will be held in Hannibal, Sedalia, Columbia, Macon, Rolla, Marshall, Hermann and Mexico City.
An in-person listening session in Jefferson City will be held from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on February 12 at Immaculate Conception Church, 1206 E. McCarty St.
Some dioceses have already started to hold sessions.
The local diocese has already had listening sessions. The Right Reverend W. Shawn McKnight, Bishop of the Diocese of Jefferson City, recently hosted listening sessions to develop a formal report for the Pope on the Diocese. McKnight led these sessions.
These will be different. McKnight could participate – not as a leader but as a member of the community.
“What we’re trying to do is set up a way where everyone who comes to one of the sessions has a chance to speak. We’re trying to capture that information,†Osman said. “The point of these sessions is for people to get along with each other.
The church is not going to try to come to a consensus. People are also not going to try to convince each other of anything.
The diocese will limit speakers to three minutes and ask everyone to focus on two issues, she said.
The first: please share a story about your experience with the church that shaped you.
The second: What does the Holy Spirit ask of us?
“People see this as an opportunity for people to say, ‘Thank you for asking me,'” Osman said. “The questions are intentionally very open-ended. They are meant to be inclusive.”
The suffering people will come to the sessions.
They may have stopped going to church because of the pain in their life.
Maybe they quit because of a divorce, something a priest said or did.
Osman said colleagues whose dioceses have started sessions report that some have come back to church and asked, “Do you miss me?
The emphasis is on the church starting to listen to people at the local level.
The diocese distilled the questions from the preparatory documents the Vatican sent out to the world, she said.
“What we ask people to tell us is, ‘Where should the church go? “I don’t know of any other institution that has attempted something like this,†Osman said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out. We need inspiration.
“I hope we have people ready to participate – let the Spirit speak through them.”
Each local diocese will submit a report to the United States Conference of Bishops.
The bishops will distill the information. Then, USCB representatives will travel to all of the Americas and give Vatican comments to the people.
The effort will end with a conference of all bishops from around the world meeting in synod in October 2023.
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