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Canadian Bishops Hear Progress on Synodality
Developing
In Short: Canadian bishops received contrasting updates on synodality progress compared to Latin America and the Caribbean.
At the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual plenary meeting, Archbishop Donald Bolen of Regina highlighted the difference in how synodality has been implemented in Canada versus Latin America and the Caribbean.
Bolen noted that the concept of synodality originated from the Vatican in Canada, whereas in Latin America and the Caribbean, it emerged from existing Church culture.
During the meeting, Quebec’s Bishop Alain Faubert provided a brief 17-minute update on the progress of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Implementation of Synodality in Canada since 2021.
Despite the speed of adaptation, the messaging about synodality remained consistent across regions, emphasizing the need to transform the Church by turning the concept into lived experience.
Archbishop Bolen suggested that time will reveal how deeply the Church will transform through the application of synodal approaches.
What's still developing
- “It feels like (CELAM bishops) were following instructions from the Holy See that really originated in your churches,” Archbishop Bolen told the Peruvian archbishop.
- The change activated, he said, went to the heart of the question underlying synodal listening itself.
- MONTREAL (OSV News) — The contrast between Latin American-Caribbean and Canadian progress toward creating a synodal — or “listening” — Church could not have been starker than in two presentations Canada’s bishops heard during their Sept.