This synod hopes to introduce the people of God to a fundamentally different way of organizing and expressing ourselves as the Catholic Church in this third millennium.
Pope Francis, quoting Yves Congar, O.P., a great theologian of the Second Vatican Council, has said that “there is no need to create another church, but to create a different church.”
But to create a different church, the pope says we need to be open to doing things in new ways. We need to learn a fundamental skill of human interaction: the ability to listen to each other with courage and openness, without prejudice, discrimination or fear. The principal objective of the synod is to listen together to find the ways the Holy Spirit of God is at work in each person’s life and to discern commonalities in our
experiences.
We are called “to become experts in the art of encounter,” the pope said. We are called to take “time to look others in the eye and listen to what they have to say, to build rapport, to be sensitive to the questions of our sisters and brothers, to let ourselves be enriched by the variety of charisms, vocations and ministries.”
To whom does our particular Church “need to listen to”?
How are the Laity, especially young people and women, listened to?
How do we integrate the contribution of Consecrated Men and Women?
What space is there for the voice of minorities, the discarded, and the excluded?
Do we identify prejudices and stereotypes that hinder our listening?
How do we listen to the social and cultural context in which we live?
