Synod: Communion, Participation, Mission

 

Diocesan Phase of Synod is Complete.

  • Summary of local comments forwarded to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
  • USCCB will send a national summary to Rome for use at Pope Francis’s Synod of Bishops meeting in October 2023.
  • Diocese will use local feedback to help meet spiritual and sacramental needs of the faithful.

Responding to Pope Francis’s call for each bishop around the world to listen to members of his flock, Bishop Alfred Schlert called for a robust Synod process to gather input from people across the five counties of the Diocese.

The Diocese of Allentown now has completed gathering Synod feedback on issues important to Catholics today, including soliciting comments from those who are marginalized or have fallen away from the Church.

With the help of 174 Synod Ambassadors representing parishes, schools, and other ministries throughout the five-county Diocese, there were 65 listening sessions, in which about 3,800 people shared their comments. In addition, 2,425 others opted to fill out written surveys.

Now that the feedback has been forwarded for eventual use at the Vatican, the Diocese of Allentown will use the input gathered to help in meeting the spiritual and sacramental needs of Catholics here at home, Bishop Schlert said.

Below is the report submitted by the Diocese of Allentown to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Also below is a condensed summary of the Synod Feedback, as well as a link to a collection of verbatim comments on a wide range of topics raised during the Synod process by the faithful of the Diocese of Allentown.

Diocesan Synod Summary Report submitted to USCCB

Diocesan Synod Summary Feedback (English) (Espanol)

 

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For additional stories on the Synod from the Diocese of Allentown, visit AD Today.

For more information, please contact us at synod@allentowndiocese.org.

View the Vatican Synod website here.