Local portion of Synod on Synodality concludes with Mass at Holy Cross in Dover June 22

The diocesan phase of the 2023 Synod on Synodality draws to a close later this month in the Diocese of Wilmington.

All are invited to join Bishop Koenig on June 22 at 6 p.m. at Holy Cross Church in Dover for the closing Mass for the diocesan phase of the Synod on Synodality. Preliminary findings of diocesanwide listening sessions will be included.

It will be a special moment of prayer to give thanks to God for this opportunity to better “journey together” as a church and to reflect upon the fruits of the local synodal process, according to a statement from the diocese.

Local participation kicked off with a Mass Oct. 17, beginning the process in the diocese. Father Glenn Evers, the associate moderator of the curia, helped lead the work throughout Delaware and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Pope Francis has called all Catholics to look more deeply into how it is that we are journeying as a church, and where it is that the Holy Spirit is calling us, according to Father Evers.

To be called to communion, “good, holy communication” is necessary, so the pope is emphasizing the process of a local synod, he added.

The diocese conducted listening sessions with local parishioners starting in February.

Representatives from parishes in three deaneries – geographical groupings of parishes – met at various places throughout the diocese. The sessions, according to the diocese, were “a time of prayerful reflection and sharing” among members of different parishes selected by the pastors. They addressed questions about how “journeying together” is happening in local churches, and how the Holy Spirit invites us to grow in this journeying.

Several large-scale listening sessions were held, said Father Evers, co-organizer of synod efforts locally.