Recently, Pope Francis invited the worldwide Catholic Church to participate in the preparatory process for the upcoming Synod of Bishops on Synodality. According to the Archdiocese of Atlanta, synod is best understood as ‘together on the way’ or ‘journeying together’. Through a focus on synodality, the Pope and the local parishes are focusing on understanding how they can better journey together in communion, participation, and mission. The upcoming synod is an unprecedented opportunity for the entire Church, including the lay community, to participate in discussion and reflection in order to help shape the Church’s understanding of herself and her mission of evangelization and forming disciples. The ability to participate will occur in our very own community at our local Catholic parishes. In addition to the listening sessions at the individual parishes, the Archdiocese of Atlanta has made available a survey, and the entire Catholic community, no matter if they are active or not, is encouraged to participate in the survey, and if interested, in a listening session as well. All communication and participation is available in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. It is especially important that those who have been marginalized or felt excluded from the Church feel welcome to participate. You do not have to be a member of a parish to complete the survey or attend a listening session. Please contact any of the parishes in our area to get more information about registering for a listening session, or use this link to take the survey:
For a Synodal Church 2021-2023 Survey
The following link is a Vatican document that describes the Synod:
Preparatory Document for the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (vatican.va)
The link below describes the Archdiocese of Atlanta structure for participation: FAQs – Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta | Atlanta, GA (archatl.com)
