Archdiocese of New York
Synod Interim Listening Sessions
Synthesis Report
March 2024
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” [Jesus] said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
– John 21:15-19The archbishop of New York, Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, leads and shepherds Catholics from three boroughs of New York City and seven surrounding counties. With such a large geographic area, the archdiocese is diverse and vibrant, representing people from a variety of cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
With Cardinal Dolan’s blessing, a plan was developed to communicate about the opportunity for those in the Archdiocese of New York to participate in the Synod Interim Listening Sessions for our archdiocese. We communicated through digital channels to get the word out. We developed an article, an English-language video, and a Spanish-language video to generate interest. Cardinal Dolan helped with the invitation for all to participate. The people of the archdiocese were excited to heed the Holy Father’s call to come together, utilizing the Holy Spirit as a guide, and discuss questions facing the Church.
Meetings were hosted in-person and virtually at a variety of locations including St. Joseph’s Seminary (in English and Spanish), local parishes, and in the communal residences of retired priests and religious men and women. An emphasis was placed on including the voices of young people, religious men and women, and retired clergy, who had many years of experience to draw from in their observations.
The listening sessions were held during the Lent season of 2024. Relying on the Holy Spirit’s guidance to continue to foster our Catholic culture, the discussions emphasized the development of a deeper relationship between clergy and lay adults and a focus on youth and their formation.
FOSTERING CATHOLIC CULTURE IN ADULTS & DEVELOPING A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLERGY AND LAY ADULTS
Our participants shared that they are eager for more formation opportunities and that it is important for us to know the “why” behind what we believe. Many shared that, after they received the Sacrament of Confirmation, catechesis and formation were not a focus in their congregations.
Similarly, participants expressed a desire to hear from the Church about immigration and gender issues, as responses to these issues are viewed by some as a “litmus test” to the Church’s mission. They spoke about how our Church should promote its outreach and be more outspoken in defending vulnerable populations.
Formation on the vocation to the priesthood and St. John Paul II’s teachings on the Feminine Genius (Letter to Women, 1995) could be very informative for conversations about allowing priests to marry and women to serve as deacons and priests. Additionally, many participants shared how they wish our families could receive more family catechesis, with the hope that this would strengthen the Domestic Church. We also heard the word empowerment used frequently among adults, especially women. With proper formation, our lay leaders can be more empowered to assist our pastors in evangelization.
In the Gospel reading, our Lord asks Peter if he loves him three times. Perhaps our Lord wanted to remind each of us, including our clergy, of the importance of renewing our encounter with Him, or our “first love,” as it is often called. Listening session participants mentioned the importance of continual conversion and intentionally seeking to encounter our Lord to renew and deepen our love with Him.
Related to the idea of the “first love,” our people expressed concern for the wellbeing of our priests. They mentioned that priests are often alone in their parishes, without a community of support to live out their “first love” and are overwhelmed with the administrative tasks needed to run a parish.
To combat these challenges, participants turned to the idea of parish management and laity breaking bread together and working collaboratively to run our parishes. Clergy and their parishioners need time for fellowship together whether in the church or welcoming one another into their homes. Participants shared their desire to partner with our pastors in the Great Commission. The laity wishes to understand their individual gifts and to employ them for the glory of God. One participant shared how “leadership is found in the pews with openness to the Holy Spirit.” By allowing their flock to use the graces they were gifted to contribute to administrative tasks, including financial management, construction management, hospitality, etc., pastors would have more availability and opportunities to provide pastoral care.
In this same Gospel passage, Jesus says, “when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” This speaks to the vulnerability we experience when someone else takes care of us. As our pastors seek to take care of us, and as we welcome their care, we are called to be vulnerable and humble. Our participants talked about their need for a community of compassion and open-
ness. Our Church is the place for the most authentic community, where we are in communion with our Lord and our neighbors. Our people shared their longing for that authentic community. One of the listening session small groups shared that there is “a need for our Church in the streets, with greater visibility of our clergy.” We also read from our feedback that our priests should be “witnesses by being among the people.” To live out the Gospel, we are all called to trust our Lord as we answer the call to bring Him to others. This presents challenges in our everyday life. When Jesus instructed his disciples “to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick – no food, no sack, no money in their belts.” (Mark 6:8), he asked them to trust Him and rely on Him.
Similarly, each of us, clergy and lay, is asked by Jesus to trust and rely on Him. One of the gifts of our Church, of living our faith with our brothers and sisters, is to lean on each other and encourage each other in difficult times. With true communion, there is trust and fruitful ministry. The takeaway sentiment is two-fold. It is important for lay people to rely on their pastors and help their pastors, and it is important for pastors to rely on their laypeople.
FOSTERING A CATHOLIC CULTURE FOR YOUTH AND ENCOURAGING THEIR IDEAS
Our youth spoke about how they wish to be part of the Church and how they want to be listened to. They would also like formation in the faith, especially on the universal truths. Our youth wish to partake in conversations with people of the faith and with those outside the faith, and because of that, they wish to find common ground that our universal truths can provide in ecumenical conversations.
Elder priests from the Cardinal Egan and O’Connor residence listening session shared the importance of “focusing on our commonalty” for the furthering of the mission. While our youth may not have the same experience as our adult formators, we can form them, and they wish to be formed. One of our participants that was in the session with the youth stated that “involvement in the Church develops responsibility,” encouraging our clergy and lay leaders to form and trust our youth.
Our people have seen division between our youth and adults, our clergy and lay people, and also among our various ecclesial groups. Participants identified a lack of communion between priests and lay leadership in some parishes. They also noted a separation between adult and youth lay leaders. Many of our ministry groups, such as Cursillo, Emmaus, Charismatic Renewal, and many others, assist in forming lay ministry leaders and aid in identifying their charisms. However, these same groups inadvertently create separation within our parishes. As one elder priests from the Cardinal Egan and O’Connor residence listening session shared, “Division in our Church is not setting a good example.” Some parishes have made inroads in having their various groups come together for fellowship. Some pastors have spoken up about the beauty of having ministry groups come together for the greater mission of our Church. We continue to encourage this collaboration within each parish as well as among neighboring parishes.
SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO MOVE FORWARD IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK
The people of the Archdiocese of New York expressed several times their gratitude to the Holy Father for providing an opportunity to share their voice with their peers, clergy, as well as Pope Francis himself.
In sharing their voices, the participants offered several ideas on how to address their thoughts.
• Leadership has long been aware of the administrative challenges faced by a pastor and has constantly sought ways to lessen his load. Since 2015, our diocese has partnered with Villanova University to prepare persons interested in becoming a parish business manager. With this concern in mind, our diocese will continue this program.
• There was a consistent call about how church teaching addresses societal issues of today, such as gender equality. Additional formation for adults using teachings such as Pope John Paul II’s Letter to Women and its description of the Feminine Genius supports a Catholic response to the question of gender equality.
• A common refrain in all sessions was the need for additional formation for adults and families while facing a shortage of priests. The Office of Youth Faith Formation has collaborated with our pastors to implement various types of family catechesis. With this feedback in mind, we will continue to do so. Our pastoral offices will continue to serve our pastors as they seek to feed their sheep. With a more encompassing formation and enriched fellowship, our pastors and lay people can deepen the Catholic culture within our parishes and increase vocations.
NEWS ABOUT THE LISTENING SESSIONS
In addition to promoting the sessions for attendance, we also published news stories about the session through The Good Newsroom, the digital newsroom of the archdiocese, after they were completed, so that all audiences could be aware of our effort. We published news articles about the English-language listening session and the Spanish-language listening session that took place.
CONCLUSION
By developing our Catholic culture with formation and enriched fellowship each person young, old, man, and woman will be recognized as firstly sons and daughters of our Father, as part of their parish, and as part of the Church, our Church. Once again with gratitude to our Holy Father Pope Francis, for listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and gifting us this opportunity to pray together, let us continue to pray intentionally for synodality in each parish within our archdiocese.