Recently, I read an editorial by Jim McDermott, SJ, in America Magazine’s daily newsletter “America Today” (February 4, 2022) entitled “Yes, the church needs to listen to former Catholics and not just with an agenda of winning them back.”
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Ash Wednesday in 2022
The parish community, like every other organization, has been greatly impacted by Covid-19. Many of our parishes were not able to have public Masses for weeks in 2020 and attendance was lower than usual in 2021 as the Pandemic continued to make public gatherings dangerous…
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What is a Welcoming Parish?
When you attend Mass at a parish you have not been to before, there are clues to how welcoming it is. When you enter the property, helpful signage directs you to the church entrance, greeters open the door, look directly at you, speak to you,…
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Synod Theme 2: Listening
In presenting the second theme to explore in the Synod Consultation Process taking place in dioceses around the world beginning now through April 2022, Pope Francis writes in the Preparatory Document (PD): “Listening is the first step, but it requires having an open mind and…
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Synod Theme 1: Journeying Companions
Pope Francis asks: “When we say: “our Church,’ who is part of it? Who is asking us to journey together? Who are the road companions, including those outside the ecclesial perimeter? What persons or groups are left on the margins, expressly or in fact?” These…
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Journeying Together in a Synodal Church
On Sunday, October 10, 2021, Pope Francis formally launched the process leading to the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which will take place in October 2023. Next Sunday, October 17, 2021, dioceses around the world will open the process in their…