March 28, 2022

In October 2021, the Diocese of Trenton opened their participation in the universal Church Synod that many of you heard about, entitled: For A Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission.  

The purpose of this Synod in the Church is to foster listening and engagement of the experiences of the entire Church.  There is not a specific end goal of this Synod, as my understanding of it is more as a beginning and not an end. 

Unfortunately, as the facilitation of this Synod began in December, there were a number of factors that caused a delay in me engaging with the requirements of the Synod here at St. Gregory the Great.  The resurgence of COVID-19, in the Omicron variant and all the concerns attached to that both on the parish and diocesan level postponed a number of things I was working on, including the re-establishment of a parish pastoral council.  That Council would have taken up the responsibility of Synod facilitation as part of their mandate.

The parish level of the Synod was not meant to have significant clergy involvement in the facilitation process, but unfortunately my lack of understanding of the process at the time kept me from feeling comfortable in singling out and burdening other parishioners with the responsibility of organizing the process in our parish.  The Pastoral Council has since been re-established and one of our first tasks was to examine the Synod material and try to move forward.  The realization immediately set in, that we would not have enough time to make the deadlines for the parish portion of the synodal process.  Our lack of timely participation is, as the Pastor, my fault, and while I might be able to offer excuses on my behalf, I should have been more on top of the timing so that we engaged in this before it was too late.

That being said, I do want to make you aware of a few opportunities to still participate in the Synod if you desire that are being offered (very soon) by the Diocese.  The first are two sessions, one in person and one virtual, that you can attend, as long as you register ahead of time.  

The first is at the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine this coming Sunday, April 3 at 2:30pm.  Registration is required by this Thursday March 31.

The second is a Zoom session on Wednesday, April 6 at 7:00PM.  Registration is required by Monday April 4.

There is also an online survey you can participate in if you are unable to attend, but still would like to be a part of the discussion.

All of the links can be found here:

Survey & Registration