Please click the play button to view a video message from Fr. Jeffrey Romans, Secretary of the Synod, and Pastor of St. Bridget of Sweden Parish, Cheshire
Synod Preparatory Commission
Ex-Officio:
The Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair, Archbishop of Hartford
The Very Reverend Steven C. Boguslawski, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia
Reverend Monsignor James A. Shanley, Vicar for Clergy
The Reverend Ryan Lerner, Chancellor
The Reverend Jeffrey V. Romans, Secretary for the Archdiocesan Synod 2020, Pastor of St. Bridget of Sweden Parish, Cheshire
Appointed Members:
The Reverend Kevin Dillon, Pastor of Our Lady of Victory Parish, West Haven
Sister Dolores Lahr, CSJ
Dr. Thomas Martin
Deacon Julio Maturana
Sister Clare Millea, ASCJ, Director of Faith and Culture
Emily Naylor, Secretary of St. John Bosco Parish, Branford
Father Marcin Pluciennik, Pastor of St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish, Manchester
Mary-Ellen Rogers
Debra Sousa
Thomas Wehner
The Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair, Archbishop of Hartford
The Very Reverend Steven C. Boguslawski, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia
Reverend Monsignor James A. Shanley, Vicar for Clergy
The Reverend Ryan Lerner, Chancellor
The Reverend Jeffrey V. Romans, Secretary for the Archdiocesan Synod 2020, Pastor of St. Bridget of Sweden Parish, Cheshire
Appointed Members:
The Reverend Kevin Dillon, Pastor of Our Lady of Victory Parish, West Haven
Sister Dolores Lahr, CSJ
Dr. Thomas Martin
Deacon Julio Maturana
Sister Clare Millea, ASCJ, Director of Faith and Culture
Emily Naylor, Secretary of St. John Bosco Parish, Branford
Father Marcin Pluciennik, Pastor of St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish, Manchester
Mary-Ellen Rogers
Debra Sousa
Thomas Wehner
Grow + Go: The Opportunities of the Synod
Originally published in the Catholic Transcript, September 2018
What an amazing time of opportunity we live in as disciples of Jesus! There is no denying that we live in a time much different from generations past, but, I dare say, we live in a time no less gifted and no less hope-filled than that of my grandparents and great-grandparents who came to this country and began the parishes of our local archdiocese.
I say this fully aware that there are many today in our archdiocese still struggling with the reality of the pastoral plan implemented just over a year ago, which saw the merging of a number of parishes and the closing of some churches. The difficult realities that we faced as an archdiocesan family of faith were met with equally difficult, but necessary, plans to best address the needs of our Catholic people today.
In light of this time of change, and understanding that there is still growth needed in our local Church, Archbishop Leonard Blair has convoked the third synod of the Archdiocese of Hartford, titled “Grow and Go: Grow as a Disciple and Go Make Disciples.” This is only the third synod in the 175 years since the founding of the Diocese (now Archdiocese) of Hartford.
Think about how important this is. Archbishop Blair notes in his Decree of Convocation of the Third Synod of the Archdiocese of Hartford, dated June 29, 2017, that, “The Synod will bring together representatives of the clergy, religious, and lay faithful to engage in focused discussion and to make recommendations to me for reinvigorating the life of this Archdiocese and ordering it in the most effective way to serve the mission of evangelization.” He adds, “The Synod is meant to clarify priorities and identify practical steps to promote the life and mission of this local Church.”
So again I say we live in an amazing time of opportunity! We are privileged to be among the clergy, religious and lay faithful during this historic time in the life of the archdiocese. Why is this an amazing opportunity? Because the synod grants us an extraordinary privilege to be part of the process leading to this historic synod meeting.
We currently find ourselves in the midst of the initial phase, which involves a variety of listening sessions. Beginning back in February, Archbishop Blair held his first listening session with the members of the archdiocesan Pastoral Council. This was followed by the archbishop’s visits to each of the seven deaneries and a listening session with the priests of each one. This summer, Archbishop Blair also held listening sessions with men and women religious, deacons and our retired priests. At the same time, over the summer months, each parish was asked to have a parish listening session during which all the parishioners could voice their answers to the same three questions being asked in every listening session:
This fall, the archbishop will once again visit the seven deaneries to hold a listening session with representatives of the local parishes.
All of the listening sessions are extremely important in this process leading up to the synod. The information gathered so far is being compiled and the preparatory commission for the synod is praying over these materials and discerning what main topics to recommend to the archbishop for the content of the actual synod meeting, which will be held in October 2019. As the sole legislator of the local Church, the archbishop is the one to decide what topics will be considered, but he does so after consultation with the preparatory commission and his other advisors.
This really is a process of discernment. What is the Holy Spirit asking of our local Church as we think about the future of the Archdiocese of Hartford? Where is the Holy Spirit calling us to go as a people of faith? What is the Holy Spirit calling us to do as we “Grow and Go?”
It is indeed an amazing time of opportunity. It is a time to open ourselves to the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is a time of hope as we come together as clergy, religious and lay faithful, together with our shepherd, the archbishop, to discern and clarify our priorities as we move forward. It is a time of hope as we, in the words of Archbishop Blair, “identify practical steps to promote the life and mission of this local Church.”
It is an amazing time of opportunity to grow as disciples so that we are then empowered, energized and strengthened to go and make disciples!
What an amazing time of opportunity we live in as disciples of Jesus! There is no denying that we live in a time much different from generations past, but, I dare say, we live in a time no less gifted and no less hope-filled than that of my grandparents and great-grandparents who came to this country and began the parishes of our local archdiocese.
I say this fully aware that there are many today in our archdiocese still struggling with the reality of the pastoral plan implemented just over a year ago, which saw the merging of a number of parishes and the closing of some churches. The difficult realities that we faced as an archdiocesan family of faith were met with equally difficult, but necessary, plans to best address the needs of our Catholic people today.
In light of this time of change, and understanding that there is still growth needed in our local Church, Archbishop Leonard Blair has convoked the third synod of the Archdiocese of Hartford, titled “Grow and Go: Grow as a Disciple and Go Make Disciples.” This is only the third synod in the 175 years since the founding of the Diocese (now Archdiocese) of Hartford.
Think about how important this is. Archbishop Blair notes in his Decree of Convocation of the Third Synod of the Archdiocese of Hartford, dated June 29, 2017, that, “The Synod will bring together representatives of the clergy, religious, and lay faithful to engage in focused discussion and to make recommendations to me for reinvigorating the life of this Archdiocese and ordering it in the most effective way to serve the mission of evangelization.” He adds, “The Synod is meant to clarify priorities and identify practical steps to promote the life and mission of this local Church.”
So again I say we live in an amazing time of opportunity! We are privileged to be among the clergy, religious and lay faithful during this historic time in the life of the archdiocese. Why is this an amazing opportunity? Because the synod grants us an extraordinary privilege to be part of the process leading to this historic synod meeting.
We currently find ourselves in the midst of the initial phase, which involves a variety of listening sessions. Beginning back in February, Archbishop Blair held his first listening session with the members of the archdiocesan Pastoral Council. This was followed by the archbishop’s visits to each of the seven deaneries and a listening session with the priests of each one. This summer, Archbishop Blair also held listening sessions with men and women religious, deacons and our retired priests. At the same time, over the summer months, each parish was asked to have a parish listening session during which all the parishioners could voice their answers to the same three questions being asked in every listening session:
- What are we as an archdiocese doing well?
- What are we as an archdiocese doing not so well?
- What are we as an archdiocese not doing that we should be doing?
This fall, the archbishop will once again visit the seven deaneries to hold a listening session with representatives of the local parishes.
All of the listening sessions are extremely important in this process leading up to the synod. The information gathered so far is being compiled and the preparatory commission for the synod is praying over these materials and discerning what main topics to recommend to the archbishop for the content of the actual synod meeting, which will be held in October 2019. As the sole legislator of the local Church, the archbishop is the one to decide what topics will be considered, but he does so after consultation with the preparatory commission and his other advisors.
This really is a process of discernment. What is the Holy Spirit asking of our local Church as we think about the future of the Archdiocese of Hartford? Where is the Holy Spirit calling us to go as a people of faith? What is the Holy Spirit calling us to do as we “Grow and Go?”
It is indeed an amazing time of opportunity. It is a time to open ourselves to the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is a time of hope as we come together as clergy, religious and lay faithful, together with our shepherd, the archbishop, to discern and clarify our priorities as we move forward. It is a time of hope as we, in the words of Archbishop Blair, “identify practical steps to promote the life and mission of this local Church.”
It is an amazing time of opportunity to grow as disciples so that we are then empowered, energized and strengthened to go and make disciples!