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FutureChurch’s Synod Session Resource contains the texts and prayers for each of our Synod Sessions held during Lent 2022.
Our Synod Sessions Resource was recently posted to the Vatican’s Synod Resources website and even promoted through the Synod Office’s email newsletter as a model for others to adapt and follow.
On Wednesday, March 30, 2022, Sr. Anita Baird, DHM generously offered a powerful and prophetic witness on race in the Catholic Church and in the world. Sr. Anita is a member of the Religious Congregation of the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary having served as Regional Superior, Provincial Councilor, and most recently as United States Provincial. A trail blazer and history maker, Sister Anita became the first African American to serve as Chief of Staff to the Archbishop of Chicago in 1997. In 2000, Cardinal Francis George appointed her the founding director of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Racial Justice. She is a past president of the National Black Sisters’ Conference and recipient of the organization’s Harriet Tubman “Moses of Her People” Award.
Read her text below or download a PDF of it.
“IF MY PEOPLE, CALLED BY MY NAME, WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE AND, TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, THEN WILL I HEAR FROM HEAVEN AND WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND”. (2 CHRONICLES 7-14)
AS WE EMBRACE THIS SACRED MOMENT IN THE LIFE OF OUR CHURCH; A CALL TO BE A SYNODAL CHURCH…A PILGRIM PEOPLE CALLED TO LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE SILENCE OF OUR HEARTS AND IN OUR COMMUNAL SHARING AS THE BODY OF CHRIST. WE MUST ENTER THE SACRED SPACE OF OUR HEARTS AND FIND THE COURAGE TO SPEAK TO ONE OF THE GREATEST ISSUES OF OUR TIME AND THAT IS THE HISTORY OF SYSTEMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL RACISM THAT TO THIS DAY CONTINUES TO WOUND AND DIVIDE THE BODY OF CHRIST.
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A SOCIAL PROBLEM MORE ENDURING IN THE LIFE OF OUR NATION AND CHURCH THAN THE STRUGGLE WITH THE CONCEPT OF RACE. IT IS THE LENS THROUGH WHICH MOST OF OUR SOCIAL ILLS PASS—SUCH AS CHRONIC HEALTH PROBLEMS, DRUG ABUSE, FAMILY BREAKDOWN, VIOLENCE, POVERTY AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.
RACISM IS THAT EVER PRESENT, SILENT MENACE CLOAKED IN HOUSING PATTERNS, SCHOOL TEST SCORES AND THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF DWINDLING RESOURCES AND WEALTH.
WHILE MOST OF US WANT TO BELIEVE THAT WE LIVE RELATIVELY FAULTLESS LIVES; WE ARE ENTANGLED IN A FORM OF EVIL THAT IS EVERY BIT AS PERNICIOUS AS THE BLATANT RACE CRIMES OF LONG AGO.
ACCORDING TO DR. JAMES CONE, THE PREEMINENT AFRICAN AMERICAN THEOLOGIAN AND FATHER OF BLACK LIBERATION THEOLOGY, “RACISM ENCOMPASSES THE UNDERLYING AND LARGELY COVERT SYSTEM OF RACIAL ADVANTAGE AND PRIVILEGE ENJOYED BY WHITE AMERICANS IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR CONSCIOUS AWARENESS OR CHOICE, EVEN IF INDIVIDUAL WHITE AMERICANS WISHED IT OTHERWISE. THEY CANNOT ESCAPE THE ADVANTAGES CONFERRED UPON THEM SOLELY FOR BEING BORN WITH WHITE SKIN.”
CONE VIEWS AMERICAN RACISM AS BEING SYNONYMOUS WITH WHITE SUPREMACY. “WE LIVE IN A NATION COMMITTED TO MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS OF WHITE CULTURAL, POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL DOMINANCE. WHITE SUPREMACY HAS SHAPED THE SOCIAL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS ETHOS IN OUR CHURCHES, INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING AND THE BROADER SOCIETY.”
FORTY-THREE YEARS AGO THE U.S. CATHOLIC BISHOPS WROTE IN THEIR PASTORAL LETTER ON RACISM, BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO US THAT “THE ABSENCE OF PERSONAL FAULT FOR AN EVIL DOES NOT ABSOLVE ONE OF ALL RESPONSIBILITY.”
WE MUST SEEK TO RESIST AND UNDO INJUSTICES WE HAVE NOT CAUSED, LEST WE BECOME BYSTANDERS, WHO TACITLY ENDORSE EVIL AND SO SHARE IN THE GUILT FOR IT.”
IN 1988, ST. JOHN PAUL II ASKED THE PONTIFICAL COMMISSION ON JUSTICE AND PEACE “TO HELP ENLIGHTEN AND AWAKEN CONSCIENCES ABOUT THIS MAJOR CONCERN: NAMELY, THE RECIPROCAL RESPECT BETWEEN ETHNIC AND RACIAL GROUPS AS WELL AS THEIR FRATERNAL COEXISTENCE.”
IN 2018 POPE FRANCIS WROTE THE FOLLOWING.
“WE LIVE IN TIMES IN WHICH FEELINGS THAT TO MANY HAD SEEMED TO BE OUTDATED APPEAR TO BE REEMERGING AND SPREADING. FEELINGS OF SUSPICION, FEAR, CONTEMPT AND EVEN HATRED TOWARD OTHER INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS JUDGED TO BE DIFFERENT ON THE BASIS OF THEIR ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY OR RELIGION, AND AS SUCH, BELIEVED NOT TO BE SUFFICIENTLY WORTHY TO PARTICIPATE FULLY IN THE LIFE OF SOCIETY. THESE FEELINGS, THEN, TOO OFTEN INSPIRE REAL ACTS OF INTOLERANCE, DISCRIMINATION OR EXCLUSION THAT SERIOUSLY HARM THE DIGNITY OF THOSE INVOLVED AS WELL AS THEIR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE VERY RIGHT TO LIFE AND TO PHYSICAL AND MORAL INTEGRITY,” (SPEECH AT WORLD CONFERENCE ON XENOPHOBIA, RACISM AND POPULIST NATIONALISM, SEPTEMBER 20, 2018)
IN HIS SPEECH GIVEN SEPTEMBER 23, 2015 AT THE WHITE HOUSE POPE FRANCIS SAID, “MR. PRESIDENT, TOGETHER WITH THEIR FELLOW CITIZENS, AMERICAN CATHOLICS ARE COMMITTED TO BUILDING A SOCIETY WHICH IS TRULY TOLERANT AND INCLUSIVE, TO SAFEGUARDING THE RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES, AND TO REJECTING EVERY FORM OF UNJUST DISCRIMINATION.”
THE QUESTION THEN IS THIS. ARE AMERICAN CATHOLICS REALLY COMMITTED TO BUILDING A SOCIETY THAT IS TRULY TOLERANT AND INCLUSIVE?
FATHER RICHARD ROHR OFFERS A CRITIQUE OF HOW CHRISTIANITY ALIGNED WITH EMPIRE AND COLONIALISM MANIFESTED SPECIFICALLY IN THE UNITED STATES.
“THE FORM OF CHRISTIANITY THAT HAS GROWN IN THE UNITED STATES AND SPREAD THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE WORLD IS WHAT WE HAVE TO FAIRLY CALL “SLAVEHOLDER CHRISTIANITY.” THE FOUNDERS OF OUR NATION DREW ON A CHRISTIAN TRADITION THAT HAD BEEN ALIGNED WITH EMPIRE BUILDING FOR MORE THAN A MILLENNIUM. IT MUST BE SAID THAT THIS FORM OF CHRISTIANITY IS FAR, FAR REMOVED FROM THE GOSPEL AND THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS AS IT HAS FAILED TO RESPECT THE DIVINE IMAGE IN ALL BEINGS”.
MANY BELIEVE THAT SLAVERY IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD BEGAN IN 1619 BUT THAT IS FAR FROM THE TRUTH.
JESUIT FATHER JOSEPH BROWN, PROFESSOR AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY IN CARBONDALE, WRITES THAT “THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE ENSLAVEMENT OF AFRICANS WHO WERE FORCIBLY BROUGHT TO WHAT IS NOW THE UNITED STATES BEGAN LONG BEFORE THE EVENTS THAT LENT THEIR NAME TO “THE 1619 PROJECT”.
THE CATHOLIC SPANISH AND FRENCH COLONIZERS WHO ARRIVED HERE BROUGHT ENSLAVED AFRICANS TO THIS LAND AS EARLY AS 1526. SURVIVING RECORDS AT ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA, CONFIRM THIS.
IN 1452 POPE NICHOLAS V ISSUES THE PAPAL BULL, ENTITLED DUM DIVERSUS (WHILE DIFFERENT) AUTHORIZING KING ALFONSO V OF PORTUGAL TO REDUCE ANY SARACENS, MUSLIMS, PAGANS AND ALL UNBELIEVERS TO PERPETUAL SLAVERY, FACILITATING THE BEGINNING OF THE PORTUGUESE SLAVE TRADE FROM WEST AFRICA.
THIS SAME POPE ISSUES A SECOND BULL IN 1455 ENTITLED ROMANUS PONTIFEX (ROMAN PONTIFF) AS A FOLLOW-UP SANCTIONING THE CATHOLIC NATIONS OF EUROPE’S DOMINION OVER DISCOVERED LANDS.
ALONG WITH SANCTIFYING THE SEIZURE OF NON-CHRISTIAN LANDS, THESE PAPAL BULLS GAVE CHRISTIAN EXPLORERS THE RIGHT TO CLAIM LANDS THEY “DISCOVERED” AND LAY CLAIM TO THOSE LANDS FOR THEIR CHRISTIAN MONARCHS, SANCTIONING THE ENSLAVEMENT OF NATIVE, NON-CHRISTIAN PEOPLES IN AFRICA AND THE NEW WORLD.
THESE PAPAL BULLS PAVED THE WAY FOR THE GLOBAL SLAVE-TRADE OF THE 15TH AND 16TH CENTURIES, HENCE BEGINNING THE 400-PLUS YEARS OF ENSLAVEMENT OF AFRICANS IN THE AMERICAS SANCTIONED BY THE HOLY ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BEGAN THE SLAVE TRADE AND BENEFITED FINANCIALLY FROM IT.
WHY IS THIS HISTORY LESSON NECESSARY?
BECAUSE HISTORY HAS BEEN REWRITTEN AND ERASED WHEN IT COMES TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE SLAVE TRADE IN WHAT IS NOW THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
THIS IS THE WHOLE POINT OF CRITICAL RACE THEORY…NOT TO MAKE ANYONE FEEL “GUILTY” BUT RATHER TO TEACH THE HISTORICAL TRUTH AND TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT. UNTIL WE DO THERE CANNOT BE AUTHENTIC ATONEMENT AND RECONCILIATION FOR THE SIN OF RACISM IN OUR CHURCH AND NATION.
AS FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST WE ARE FOUND WANTING AND WE BEAR THE GREATEST RESPONSIBILITY OF FAILURE TO STAMP OUT THE SINS OF RACISM AND INJUSTICE IN OUR NATION AND WORLD. TOO OFTEN, WE FAIL TO BE THE LIGHT THAT SHATTERS THE DARKNESS OF SIN.
TOO OFTEN, WE ARE COMFORTABLE CO-EXISTING WITH EVIL, RATHER THAN FIGHTING TO EXPOSE AND ERADICATE IT. OUR SALT HAS GROWN TASTELESS.
THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS OFTEN FALTERED AND MISSED CRUCIAL OPPORTUNITIES TO STAND WITH AFRICAN AMERICANS AND OTHER PEOPLES OF COLOR IN OUR LONG AND DIFFICULT STRUGGLE AGAINST RACIAL INJUSTICE.
FROM THE CHURCH’S EARLIEST DAYS IN THE NEW WORLD, IT MORE OFTEN THAN NOT REMAINED SILENT IN THE FACE OF THE GREATEST ISSUE CONFRONTING THIS COUNTRY—THE BUILDING OF THE WEALTH OF A NATION UPON THE ENSLAVEMENT OF BLACK PEOPLE.
THE MAJORITY OF THE SOUTHERN SLAVE-HOLDING CATHOLIC HIERARCHY CONSIDERED SLAVERY TO BE A POLITICAL RATHER THAN A MORAL ISSUE.
MOST SOUTHERN BISHOPS ALONG WITH MANY RELIGIOUS ORDERS, INCLUDING THE JESUITS, THE RELIGIOUS OF THE SACRED HEART, THE SISTERS OF CHARITY OF NAZARETH, THE TRAPPISTS AT GETHSEMANE, AND SEVERAL DOMINICAN ORDERS, JUST TO NAME A FEW, OWNED AND SOLD SLAVES FOR PURELY ECONOMIC REASONS.
IT WAS NOT UNTIL 1958, ALMOST 100 YEARS AFTER THE EMANCIPATION OF THE ENSLAVED THAT THE AMERICAN BISHOPS ADDRESSED RACISM AS A MORAL ISSUE AND STOOD FIRM AS A BODY IN DENOUNCING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AS IMMORAL AND UNJUST AS THEY WROTE:
“THE HEART OF THE RACE QUESTION IS MORAL AND RELIGIOUS. IT CONCERNS THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD OUR FELLOW MAN. IF OUR ATTITUDE IS GOVERNED BY THE GREAT CHRISTIAN LAW OF LOVE OF NEIGHBOR AND RESPECT FOR HIS RIGHTS, THEN WE CAN WORK OUT HARMONIOUSLY THE TECHNIQUES FOR MAKING LEGAL, EDUCATIONAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CHANGES. BUT IF OUR HEARTS ARE POISONED BY HATRED, OR EVEN BY INDIFFERENCE TOWARD THE WELFARE AND RIGHTS OF OUR FELLOW MEN, THEN OUR NATION FACES A GRAVE INTERNAL CRISIS”.
WHLE THE BISHOPS MADE STRONG STATEMENTS ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL, LITTLE WAS DONE TO IMPLEMENT THEIR PUBLIC POSITION AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.
IT WAS ONLY IN 1965 THAT THE PUBLIC FACE OF THE CHURCH WAS SEEN STANDING WITH THOSE FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT TO VOTE AND EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW WHEN DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. CALLED ON ALL OF THE NATION’S CLERGY TO COME TO SELMA, ALABAMA. THE RESPONSE OF CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS WAS OVERWHELMING. IT MARKED THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA IN THE HISTORICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CHURCH IN AMERICA AND PEOPLE OF AFRICAN ANCESTRY.
HOWEVER, TANGIBLE, SUSTAINING PROGRESS COMES PAINFULLY SLOW.
HERE WE ARE 57 YEARS LATER STILL NEEDING TO ADDRESS AMERICA’S ORIGINAL SIN, WHICH IS JUST AS LETHAL TO THE SURVIVAL OF WHITE AMERICA AS IT IS TO BLACK AMERICA.
WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY; YET WE HAVE A LIFETIME TO GO.
PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS JUST SIGNED INTO LAW THE “EMMETT TILL ANTI-LYNCHING LAW” MAKING LYNCHING A FEDERAL CRIME. IT ONLY TOOK 124 YEARS AFTER THE END OF SLAVERY FOR THIS NATION TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT LYNCHING IS A HATE CRIME AND MUST BE PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
THE CHURCH HAS THE VOCATION IN THE MIDST OF THE WORLD TO BE THE PEOPLE REDEEMED AND RECONCILED WITH GOD AND ONE ANOTHER FORMING “ONE BODY, ONE SPIRIT IN CHRIST”.
GOD MADE THIS CLEAR IN ACTS WHEN PETER, THE DEVOUT JEW, WAS SUMMONED TO THE HOME OF CORNELIUS, THE PAGAN.
“GOD HAS SHOWN ME THAT I SHOULD NOT CALL ANY MAN IMPURE OR UNCLEAN…GOD SHOWS NO PARTIALITY”…FOR ALL SUCH DIVISIONS ARE NOW OBSOLETE, HAVING BEEN DESTROYED BY THE CROSS OF CHRIST, JESUS.” (Acts 10:28)
IF THE CHURCH IS TO BE TRULY CATHOLIC AND UNIVERSAL, NO INEQUALITY ARISING FROM RACE, OR NATIONALITY, OR SEX CAN EXIST. GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED AND THE CHURCH OF CHRIST WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
RACIAL SUPREMACY, WHICH DENIES THE EQUALITY OF EVERY MEMBER OF THE HUMAN FAMILY AND SINS AGAINST THE CREATOR, CAN ONLY BE ERADICATED AT THE ROOT OF ITS EXISTENCE…THE HUMAN HEART.
WE MUST SEE ONE ANOTHER WITH THE EYES OF CHRIST; WE MUST THINK AS CHRIST AND LOVE WITH A CHRISTLIKE SPIRIT. WE MUST ASK THE AGE-OLD QUESTION, “WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR” WITH A CLEAN HEART.
GOD CONTINUALLY CALLS US TO CONVERSION. GOD IS CALLING FOR SOCIAL AND ECCLESIAL TRANSFORMATION BORN OF THEOLOGICAL, RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CONVERSION.
TODAY, MANY CHURCH LEADERS ARE SIMPLY INATTENTIVE AND INSENSITIVE TO THE MORAL ISSUES INVOLVED AND TO THE BRUTALITY AND DEATH-YIELDING CONSEQUENCES OF INSTITUTIONAL RACISM. THEY FAIL TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT RACISM IS A SIN AND A HERESY THAT NOT ONLY DIVIDES THE HUMAN COMMUNITY BUT ALSO SUSTAINS A PATTERN OF SYSTEMIC GENOCIDE.
SOME HAVE EVEN GONE AS FAR AS TO ATTACK THE “BLACK LIVES MATTER” MOVEMENT AS BEING MARXIST AND A PSEUDO RELIGION.
AS A RESULT, PEOPLE OF COLOR CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE ECONOMIC, POLITICAL AND PROFESSIONAL ALIENATION WITHIN SOCIETAL AND ECCLESIAL INSTITUTIONS.
THE REALIZATION OF RACIAL JUSTICE IN THE UNITED STATES AND IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH RESTS UPON THOSE CATHOLIC BISHOPS, PRIESTS, RELIGIOUS AND THE LAY FAITHFUL, WHO HAVE COME TO KNOW AND BELIEVE THAT RACISM DEHUMANIZES NOT ONLY PEOPLE OF COLOR BUT WHITES AS WELL.
RACISM KILLS PEOPLE OF COLOR PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY AND IT KILLS WHITE PEOPLE MORALLY.
IN CALLING US TO DISMANTLE INSTITUTIONAL RACISM, GOD PLACES BEFORE US A CHOICE OF LIFE AND DEATH. WE MUST CHOOSE THE LIFE OF MORAL FORTITUDE AND TRUTH AS A CHURCH IN SPEAKING AND ACTING AGAINST THE SOCIAL INJUSTICE OF SYSTEMIC RACISM.
THOSE WHO BENEFIT FROM THE PRIVILEGES THAT COME WITH BEING WHITE IN AMERICA MUST DESIRE AND SEEK A CONVERSION OF HEART. THEY MUST UNDERGO A SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION OF HEART ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD.
THE CHURCH MUST DILIGENTLY INSIST THAT CHURCH LEADERS; PASTORS, PREACHERS, TEACHERS AND CATECHISTS, STUDY THE WORD OF GOD IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH AND THEN TEACH THE UNADULTERATED TRUTH ACCORDING TO SACRED TRADITION.
IF WE BELIEVE THAT “GOD CAN CHANGE HEARTS”, AND THAT THROUGH GOD’S DIVINE GRACE WE HAVE THE POWER TO ERADICATE RACISM, THEN WHAT MUST WE DO, AS MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST, TO CONFRONT THE SIN OF RACISM IN THE MILIEUS WERE WE LIVE, WORSHIP AND WORK TO BUILD A MORE JUST SOCIETY?
THE CHURCH MUST EMPOWER PEOPLE OF COLOR—CLERGY, RELIGIOUS AND LAY—TO USE THEIR COMPETENCIES AND TO DEVELOP THEIR GIFTS.
UNFORTUNATELY, WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE MAJOR HINDRANCE TO THE FULL DEVELOPMENT OF SUCH LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE CHURCH IS STILL THE FACE OF RACISM.
THE QUESTION THEN BECOMES, “HOW DO WE PROMOTE UNITY, ANTI-RACIST DIVERSITY AND INCULTURATION IN A CHURCH THAT IS STILL CONFRONTING THE SIN OF RACISM?
ARE WE WILLING TO SHARE POWER EQUALLY WITH THE POWERFUL AND POWERLESS?
CAN WE, AS CHURCH, COMMIT TO DISMANTLING RACISM IN ORDER TO MAKE ROOM AT THE EUCHARISTIC TABLE FOR ALL OF GOD’S CHILDREN?
CAN WE DWELL TOGETHER IN GOD’S TRINITARIAN LOVE?
IN HIS PASTORAL LETTER, “DWELL IN MY LOVE”, CARDINAL FRANCIS GEORGE WROTE: “OUR GATHERING FOR MASS IS ALWAYS A GATHERING IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER OF OUR LORD, JESUS CHRIST. IN THE EUCHARISTIC ASSEMBLY WE SHARE ALL THE CULTURAL, RACIAL, ECONOMIC AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS GIVEN US BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO ENRICH AND TRANSFORM BOTH CHURCH AND SOCIETY.”
“IF SHE IS FAITHFUL TO HER LORD, THE CHURCH WILL NOT ONLY PROCLAIM WHO HE IS BUT WILL HERSELF ACT TO BECOME THE WOMB IN WHICH A NEW WORLD CAN GESTATE AND BE BORN.”
ARE WE READY TO BE REBORN?
FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL JUDGE US BASED ON THE WORLD AND CHURCH THAT THEY WILL INHERIT FROM US.
UNTIL THERE IS A RECKONING AROUND THE SIN OF RACISM WE CANNOT MOVE FORWARD. WE CANNOT BEGIN TO CREATE A TRULY INCLUSIVE SOCIETY UNTIL AMERICA’S ORIGINAL SIN IS ACKNOWLEDGED AND ATONED FOR. THEN AND ONLY THEN CAN WE INSURE EQUALITY FOR ALL PEOPLE REGARDLESS OF THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN, OR WHERE THEY COME FROM, OR THE LANGUAGE THAT THEY SPEAK, OR THEIR SEXUAL ORIENTATION, OR THE GOD WHOM THEY WORSHIP.
JESUS PRAYED TO HIS FATHER, AS HE PREPARED TO EMBRACE THE CROSS THAT “ALL MAY BE ONE…AS WE ARE ONE.” JOHN 17:21-22
TO BE ONE WITH THE TRIUNE GOD IS TO BE IN PERFECT UNION WITH THE DIVINE AND IN TRUTH AND CHARITY WITH ALL MEMBERS OF THE ONE FAMILY OF THE CREATOR.
THIS UNION WITH GOD IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST MAKES US INTERDEPENDENT ON ONE ANOTHER. EVERY CHRISTIAN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BROTHER AND SISTER AND WILL INDEED PUT THEIR NEEDS BEFORE THEIR OWN.
THE EUCHARIST COMPELS US TO LIVE LIVES OF TRUTH, BUILT ON JUSTICE AND ANIMATED BY LOVE…TO BUILD A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH WHERE ALL OF GOD’S CHILDREN CAN LIVE WITH HUMAN DIGNITY AND RESPECT.
THROUGH THE POWER OF THE EUCHARIST WE ARE ONE IN CHRIST. THE COMMON DENOMINATOR IS NO LONGER COLOR, ETHNIC ORGIN, COMMON LANGUAGE OR COMMON INTEREST.
WHAT MIGHTY SOCIAL AND POLITICAL REVOLUTIONS WOULD COME ABOUT IF THIS MESSAGE OF LOVE WAS SERIOUSLY LIVED IN OUR COMMUNITIES, OUR CHURCHES, OUR WORLD?
OUR WORLD, NATION AND CHURCH ARE IN CRISIS AND WE NEED GOD’S TRANSFORMATIVE GRACE IF WE ARE GOING TO HEAL THE LAND AND SET THE CAPTIVES FREE.
IF WE TRULY BECOME WHAT WE EAT, OUR HEARTS AND MINDS WILL BE OPENED. WE WILL NOT CLOSE OURSELVES BEHIND THE BARRIERS OF WEALTH, OR CLASS, OR COLOR. WE WILL NOT DENY OUR COMMON HUMANITY AND SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE WHO CRY OUT IN PAIN AND DESPAIR.
TO BECOME WHAT WE EAT IS TO ERADICATE THE SINS OF RACISM, BIGOTRY AND HATRED FROM OUR HEARTS.
TO BECOME WHAT WE EAT IS TO NO LONGER KEEP SILENCE IN THE FACE OF WHAT IS JUDGED TO BE POLITICALLY CORRECT.
TO BECOME WHAT WE EAT IS TO RECEIVE THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND BECOME CHRIST’S DISCIPLES AND WITNESSES.
TO BECOME WHAT WE EAT IS TO BECOME A SYNODAL CHURCH…A GRACE-FILLED, RESURRECTED CHURCH.
THIS IS OUR APPOINTED WORK AS CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS…TO PREACH NOT WITH WORDS BUT WITH DEEDS THAT WILL TRANSFORM OUR CHURCH, OUR COMMUNITIES, AND OUR INSTITUTIONS; TO PREPARE A TABLE, WHERE ALL ARE EQUALLY WELCOMED AS MEMBERS OF THE ONE FAMILY OF GOD.
I LEAVE YOU WITH THIS QUESTION AND CHALLENGE…
WILL WE COMMIT TO THE LONG TERM WORK OF REDEFINING AND RESTRUCTURING OUR FAITH COMMUNITIES TO ADDRESS THE LEGACY OF RACIAL SUPERIORITY AND SYSTEMIC INJUSTICE?
FOR NOW IS THE ACCEPTABLE TIME. NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.
MAY THE PRAYER OF JESUS, BE OURS…THAT ALL MAY BE ONE…IN THE EUCHARIST, WHICH IS AT THE HEART OF RACIAL JUSTICE.
A Holy Cross priest, Steve Newton is the current executive director of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests. In addition to his role with the AUSCP, Steve is also on the campus ministry team at St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. He offered this witness for FutureChurch’s Lenten Synodal Sessions in 2022.
On March 16, 2022, Deborah Rose, Co-Director of FutureChurch offered a witness for our synodal session on Women’s Equality and Full Participation in the Catholic Church. It has been updated with an addition — the new constitution issued by Pope Francis on March 19, 2022 which opens the doors for women at the highest levels in the Vatican. Read her witness below or download a PDF.
I appreciate this chance to offer a witness. But, it is just that, one witness. I will inevitably fall short in saying what needs to be said on this topic. I will not capture the full picture, norname all the women I want to name; those whom I want this Church to love, and to lovefiercely.
When people at parties ask me what I do , Catholic or not , they usually laugh at my answer, the perceived futility of my work. Or, they go quiet; that awkward, stilted quiet thatusually leads to one of us deciding we need another drink at the bar, or, the bathroom.
But if the other person is curious enough to learn more, somewhere around the 8 minutemark they inevitably ask, “Why do you stay?”
“Why would any woman stay in the Catholic Church after being treated the way they aretreated?”
Well, every woman on this call, every man, every person, will have their own answer to thatquestion – a question I am sure you’ve also been asked.
But, for me, its personal.
There’s a fire in my belly that hasn’t been extinguished in the 66 years I’ve been on this planet. I expect I will die with it. Since I was young, I have always passionately cared forthe poorest women and children at the edges of existence. As my mother told me overand over again growing up, “You, Debbie, are always for the underdog.”
And I recognize the role that this behemoth, the Catholic Church, plays in exacting justicefor vulnerable women, or hobbling and endangering them by sacralizing men’s worstimpulses. Working for, and alongside women so they might gain equality, dignity, autonomy,access; that is what I was born to do.
As a kid, I went to church most every day in the summers, during Lent, and on FirstFridays. I lived about 5 minutes from the “compound” – the graveyard, grotto, convent,priest house, school and parish, and loved being there. I had a happy existence and I feltvery close to God.
But, as I grew up, like most women, I began to recognize the limitations that were beingplaced on my life.
College was out for the girls in our family. I married young; became a mother. In my smalltown, I got condolences instead of congratulations when I had daughters three and four.
But, like most women, I learned to resist. On vocation Sunday, with my four daughterslined up in the pew next to me, Father aimed his homily at the men and boys. My girlsand I and all the rest of the women at Mass were invisible.
The injustice infuriated me. When I went to receive the Eucharist, and Father offered, “TheBody of Christ” I replied, “Not yet.” Jesuit Daniel Berrigan once said, “Until women are fullyintegrated into the Catholic Church, every time I go to the altar, I feel compromised.”
I have never felt called to the priesthood, but I understand how important it is for women tobe priests. I remember the first time I saw a woman priest. She was an Episcopal priestthat I had heard about because of her work on the streets with the poor. I was late getting to the church, and by the time I was able to slip into the back bench, she was alreadypreaching. She was petite, but she had on the full priestly regalia; green for a Sunday inOrdinary time. And she had both hands in the air as she energetically preached theGospel. But, as I watched I noticed her vestments were moving. And the movement did not coincide with her preaching body. It continued about a minute more, and then, out fromunder her vestments popped this tiny, toddling, blond boy; who then, began runningcircles around her as she preached. It was her grandson. And he was just being a kid.
And she was just being a grandma, even as she preached about the plight of the poor andJesus to her parishioners. As I sat in the back pew, I wept , watching the familiarity of it all, the joy, the humanity. I thought, what would it be like if we Catholics saw that modeled at our altars?
We are an impoverished bunch. That’s for sure. We are left starving for, women’svoices, women’s faith, women’s wisdom, women’s love throughout our Catholic land.
And many of us struggle on, working ever so hard to squeeze out meaning in a communallife, too narrowly imagined by a group of elitist, clericalist men.
The same men who:
This is a corrupted, clericalist structure; one that women are resisting; that women aredismantling; that women are re-imagining and re-building.
Women are rising. They always have. They always will.
Think of Mary Magdalene. She was close to Jesus. I dare say his co-equal in Spirit. AndHE recognized her faith, her relationship with God in her own right. And he relied on her,her gifts, her support, and her courage in the face of brutality. When others fled, she andthe other women stayed. When the church in the West tried to downgrade her toprostitute status, feminist theologians and biblical scholars recovered her and her truehistorical role; a role for which she was finally officially recognized in 2016 from theVatican – the Apostle to the Apostles.
Think of Phoebe. She is named diakonos in the Bible, and although she is anunderachiever in the tradition of a male dominated church that applies one set ofinterpretive rules to men and another set to women, women theologians, biblicalscholars, and canonists have recovered her historical role – her authentic leadership andministry – for all the Church to follow.
Recall the way women organized into religious communities where they could expandtheir autonomy and their missions in the face of an increasingly patriarchal andhierarchical church. Religious sisters played a critical role in shaping Christianityestablishing schools, hospitals, orphanages – and confronting poverty and injustice ofevery sort. And, as we witnessed in 2009 and 2012, when the Vatican and the US bishops tried to crack down on them, they resisted. And I might say, in stellar form!
Think of the way Black Catholic women religious disrupted slavery’s ravages, desegregated white religious congregations, confronted racism within the Catholic Church, and challenged the oppression of their day by educating and caring for children of color. Werightly know John Augustus Tolton, the first Black priest in the United States, but have notyet understood and appreciated the role his mother, Martha. She played a critical role in the life of the Church when, with three small children in tow, including John, she escaped slavery by rowing a broken down boat across the Mississippi to Illinois.
Consider the way women have pioneered a pathway to the priesthood today in the face of excommunication by churchmen. They are growing a community of ordained equalswho are rebuilding the priesthood into a servant priesthood.
Since Vatican II
Since Vatican II
Since Vatican II
And although there were troubles aplenty under Pope John Paul II, who wanted to remarket the sacralized repression of women under the clever new title“complementarity”, with its famous descriptors of women, as “feminine geniuses”, womenare rising.
After the election of Pope Francis in 2013, there have been some significant changes. And these changes have come about because of the decades long work of women.
In 2014
In 2015
In 2016
In 2017
In 2018
In 2019
In 2020
In 2021
Women are rising. All over the world.
They are making new demands for women’s equality in Germany as they continue their synodal process.
They are holding churchmen accountable in Australia as their plenary process proceeds.
And they are gathering in the streets in India and crying out for justice, when criminalsdressed in bishops’ clothing rape and abuse nuns.
Women are the lifeblood of the church.
They have shaped me in profound ways: whether it was struggling over a theologicaltreatise by Rosemary Radford Ruther; being challenged to see my own participation in racist structures by Diana Hayes, Shawn Copeland and Shannen Dee Williams; orwitnessing the courage, candor, and strength of women under direct attack by churchmen,like Chris Schenk, Louise Akers, and Pat Farrell.
I have been forever transformed by women in our church. And I am profoundly grateful. How about you?
The 2023 Synod on Communion, Participation, and Mission may be the most important world wide discernment process since Vatican II. It will certainly include a broader constituency of Catholics in the preparatory stages than ever before. And because of new innovations in the process, Pope Francis has made it clear that he wants to hear from all Catholics who enter into the process in good faith. Thus, even in cases where bishops are ignoring or diminishing the potential for the synodal journey, Catholics are encouraged to gather in other ways and let our leaders know what we see, hear, experience, and hope for as Catholics. The goal is to discern the future of the Church with lay and ordained Catholics, no matter what their relationship to a parish.
This is an important time for all Catholics and a critical time to invest our energies in discerning the future together. FutureChurch will do our part to make sure the voices of all Catholics are heard during this next two years in the lead up to the 2023 Synod in Rome.
FutureChurch held a series of sessions on the six Wednesdays of Lent focusing on a different topic each session. A survey allowed each person to convey their most cogent ideas for our final report. We will compile the final report between Easter and Pentecost and send that report off to Rome (copying our bishops and the papal nuncio) in the Spirit of Pentecost.
Our Synod Resource contains the Scripture texts and prayers – including our adapted version of the Synod prayer – for each session.
Pope Francis has called for a worldwide synod on synodality in 2023. In the lead up to the synod, he wants church leaders and bishops to gather the “sense of the faithful” on a important issues we face together. The first phase of this process began at the local level in October 2021 and is to continue until August 2022. The input that is gathered will be sent to the Synod of Bishops in Rome so that they can develop a working document for their international gathering of bishops in October 2023. Your input is extremely important for this process to be an authentic discernment.
Our bishops are responsible for developing and implementing a process for gathering and “listening to all the baptized” on important matters in our church in the lead up to the 2023 Synod of Bishops, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participate, and Mission.”
In order to realize this new consultation process, Pope Francis opened the three phase consultation this October 9, 2021. The three phases include:
As the new head of the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Mario Grech, noted that they chose to undertake the new, three-part format because “the time was ripe for a wider participation of the people of God in a decision-making process that affects the whole church and everyone in the church.”
“The Second Vatican Council teaches that the people of God participate in the prophetic office of Christ, therefore, we must listen to the people of God, and this means going out to the local churches,” noted Cardinal Grech. He also explained that the church, as the people of God, “is an active subject in the life and mission of the church by virtue of their baptism…In his wisdom, Pope Francis has continued to strengthen the consultation and discernment process for synods addressing the family, youth, and the fate of our common world as we witness the destruction of the Amazon and its people. With the new process in mind, we must ask our bishop to make every effort to invite all the baptized so that, together, we may pray, listen deeply to the Spirit of God, listen to each other, and work together to spread the Gospel message in our own parish communities, in our diocese, and around the world.”
Since the diocesan phase of the process began this October, Catholics make sure their bishop has a plan in place to carry out the process. Volunteer if you can to help. Here is a map of dioceses that indicate they are implementing the synod process.
If you bishop refuses to enter into the synod process or ignores it, there is still a way to make your voice heard. Pope Francis and the General Secretariat and organizers of the 2023 Synod want your input!
The synod document states:
Religious communities, lay movements, associations of the faithful, and other ecclesial groups are encouraged to participate in the Synodal Process in the context of the local Churches. However, it is also possible for them, and for any group or individual that does not have an opportunity to do so at the local level, to contribute directly to the General Secretariat as stated in Episcopalis Communio (art. 6 on the Consultation of the People of God):
§1. The consultation of the People of God takes place in the particular Churches, through the Synods of Bishops of the Patriarchal Churches and the Major Archbishoprics, the Councils of Hierarchs and the Assemblies of Hierarchs of the Churches sui iuris and through the Episcopal Conferences. In each particular Church, the Bishops carry out the consultation of the People of God by recourse to the participatory bodies provided for by the law, without excluding other methods that they deem appropriate. §2. The Unions, the Federations and the male and female Conferences of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life consult the Major Superiors, who in their turn may approach their own Councils and other members of the Institutes and Societies in question. §3. In the same way, the Associations of the Faithful recognized by the Holy See consult their own members. §4. The dicasteries of the Roman Curia offer their contribution, taking account of their respective particular areas of competence. §5. The General Secretariat of the Synod may identify other forms of consultation of the People of God.
Each listening phase will be adapted to local circumstances. People in remote communities with limited internet access are likely to have a different involvement than those in urban settings. Communities currently in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to organize different dialogue and listening opportunities than those with high rates of recovery. Whatever the local circumstances the Diocesan Contact Person(s) are encouraged to focus on maximum inclusion and participation, reaching out to involve the greatest number of people possible, and especially those on the periphery who are often excluded and forgotten. Encouraging the widest participation possible will help to ensure that the syntheses formulated at the levels of dioceses, episcopal conferences, and the whole Church capture the true realities and lived experience of the People of God. Because this engagement of the People of God is foundational, and a first taste of the experience of synodality for many, it is essential that each local listening exercise be guided by the principles of communion, participation, and mission that inspire this synodal path.
The unfolding of the Synodal Process at a local level must also involve:
● Discernment through listening, to create space for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
● Accessibility, in order to ensure that as many people as possible can participate, regardless of location, language, education, socio-economic status, ability/disability, and material resources.
● Cultural awareness to celebrate and embrace the diversity within local communities.
● Inclusion, making every effort to involve those who feel excluded or marginalized.
● Partnership based on the model of a co-responsible Church.
● Respect for the rights, dignity, and opinion of each participant.
● Accurate syntheses that truly captures the range of critical and appreciative perspectives of all responses, including views that are expressed only by a minority of participants.
● Transparency, ensuring that processes of invitation, involvement, inclusion, and aggregation of input are clear and well communicated.
● Fairness, ensuring that participation in the listening process treats each person equally, so that every voice can be duly heard.
The Diocesan Contact Person(s) are encouraged to tap into the richness of the lived experience of Church in their local context. Throughout the diocesan phase, it is helpful to keep in mind the principles of the Synodal Process and the need for some structure to the conversation, so that it can be synthesised and effectively inform the writing of the working documents (Instrumentum Laboris). We aim to be attentive to how the Spirit speaks through the People of God.
As noted, this first phase is meant to provide input for the working document the 2023 Synod participants will use to discern what the Spirit is calling us to do and be today.
If you bishop has not put a process in place for listening to the Catholics in your diocese, FutureChurch has developed some resources to help you to contact your bishop urging him to make the process accessible to all.
This is your time to speak up! Let’s discern the future, together!