Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 8, 2025 / 18:20 pm (CNA).
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, in a letter addressed to clergy, religious, and faithful announced the launch of a multiyear “pastoral conversion” plan for the archdiocese based on the framework proposed by the final document produced by the Synod on Synodality.
“Pastoral conversion requires nothing more or less than our willingness to be open to what God’s word is saying to us and to listen to one another,” Tobin wrote, adding: “The term that best describes the journey that we are traveling together now is ‘synodality.’”
Following a multiyear process of the Synod on Synodality, which began in 2021, Pope Francis adopted the final document, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission,” in October 2024.
The 52-page document, approved by 355 synod members in attendance, outlines substantial proposals for Church renewal, including expansion of women’s leadership roles, greater lay participation in decision-making, and significant structural reforms, including strengthening pastoral councils at parish and diocesan levels.
“Synodal leadership affirms the fact that every baptized person has the right and the responsibility to participate in the Church’s life and ministry,” Tobin wrote.
“The same is true of our ecclesial structures,” the archbishop said of Newark’s parishes, schools, institutions, and ministries.
Quoting the Holy Father’s first apostolic exhortation in 2013, which states “We cannot leave things as they presently are,” Tobin declared: “We must allow the Holy Spirit to renew us, as individuals and as communities, so that we can effectively carry the joy of the Gospel to others here at home and to the ends of the earth.”
Following the directive of the final document, the initiative, titled “We Are His Witnesses,” proposes a series of recommendations for structural changes to be implemented across the archdiocese in the coming years.
In the first place, Tobin revealed that he has instructed all parishes across the archdiocese to establish “fully functioning pastoral and finance councils” by July. At this time, the archbishop also said he expects all parish leaders to have completed training in “the synodal style of leadership with a missionary outlook.”
Tobin also shared that pastors have been asked to find ways to lead their congregations in “reflecting on what it means to be a ‘shared parish’” through small groups “based on the word of God,” while parishes across the archdiocese have been asked to “be open to new alliances with other parishes,” regardless of size or location.
“I want to make it clear that We Are His Witnesses is not a project with a hidden agenda for closing or consolidating parishes, schools, or other institutions,” Tobin noted in the letter. “We have something very different in mind, namely the pastoral conversion of our hearts and minds to prepare us, as an archdiocese, for the work of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ now and in the future.”
The initiative has been entrusted to auxiliary Bishop Michael Saporito, who is expected to lead the newly-founded Commission on Pastoral Planning, a group of lay faithful, clergy, and religious, in presenting a comprehensive pastoral plan for Newark by the summer of 2026.
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Nighty night!
Does this mean sins will no longer be sins where he lives???? And we get to tell the Holy Spirit what the Holy Spirit should be thinking??? Way cool. I’m moving.
“Synodal leadership affirms the fact that every baptized person has the right and the responsibility to participate in the Church’s life and ministry,” Tobin wrote.
Except those who are “backwardists”.
We have a pope who has said some awfully divisive and nasty things about others in the Body of Christ. And now we’re supposed to buy into this synodality clap-trap. Next thing they’ll be telling us is that there’s a virus adrift, we owe to our fellows to be injected with some untested vaccine and that until further notice our schools, churches and all other gathering places will be closed (except Wal-Mart, of course).
Your Royal Eminence, Prince of the Church, Cardinal Tobin: The “People of God” are no longer listening to hierarchs like yourself.
We read: “’Synodal leadership affirms the fact that every baptized person has the right and the responsibility to participate in the Church’s life and ministry,’ Tobin wrote. ‘The same is true [!] of our ecclesial structures,’ the archbishop said of Newark’s parishes, schools, institutions, and ministries.”
Pastoral and parish councils are actually old hat. Nevertheless, the baptized “People of God” or even the “universal call to holiness” are not the same thing as the ordained, “sent” (apostello), accountable, and red-hat Apostolic Succession—within the perennial, sacramental and Eucharistic Church. But now, the contagion from “cafeteria Catholics” to “smorgasbord synodality.”
SUMMARY: “Ecclesial structures,” what structures? Chopped liver, anyone?
“We must allow the Holy Spirit to renew us, as individuals and as communities, so that we can effectively carry the joy of the Gospel to others here at home and to the ends of the earth.”
The Holy Spirit needs us to implement the recommendations of the Synod on Synodality so that He can renew us, as individuals and communities. The Holy Spirit can’t do it otherwise. That seems to be what Cardinal Tobin is arguing in this letter.
If I were a member of the Archdiocese of Newark, I would be offended by the implication that either I haven’t been praying to the Holy Spirit for His gifts, assistance and guidance before now. Or that I have been wasting my time because I needed to pray to the Holy Spirit as part of a Synodal group in order to accomplish anything meaningful. Or that am am unwilling to be open to what God’s word is saying unless I do that collectively with others.
Really, what tosh. The Holy Spirit doesn’t need a “Synodal Church,” “pastoral conversion,” or any other man-made construct, to operate.
I think Cardinal Tobin is being honest and open. We have a church today that is in a period of great change. We like to think that we’ve seen such great changes in the past 50-60 years, but perhaps what we’ve seen is only the beginning. I am not a great fan of our current Pope, but I think I’m beginning to understand, at least in part, what he’s talking about. I thought I’d never say that! I pray God helps us figure this all out!
We have a church today that is in a period of great change.
The last word in the above sentence is misspelled. Please note the proper spelling:
D E M O L I T I O N.
Maybe you meant to post this in response to a different post? It doesn’t appear to relate to what I wrote.
As far as “We have a church today that is in a period of great change,” for years, I have been hearing this platitude offered as an automatic justification for whatever “change” a particular person or group wants to make. Often, it is the only justification given, without any reasoning or additional explanation. “We have to change because … of all this change going on everywhere!”
Yes, the technological and material conditions of the worls have been changing rapidly for decades now. That is now a constant of existence, to the point that it is impossible to keep track and continually adjust to every new development that comes down the pike. Anyone who tries to do that will encounter a confusing, ever-changing picture. Some of those “new developments” will have enduring impact but others will go by the wayside. I doubt anyone can accurately predict whether a current development or trend will still be around 5 years from now. Many will likely be old news by then.
That is why some people have begun to reorient their perspective towards dealing with change: rather than trying frenetically to “keep up” with the pace of change like hamsters running round and round their little wheels, they are redirecting their attention toward what is constant and enduring. The thought is not to reject new developments outright, but as much as possible, to look for the real value therein, and to use discernment when deciding what to adopt and what not to adopt.
As I try to think through this things, I turn to the Holy Spirit and ask for His assistance. I don’t need to participate in a synodal group to do that. I have it on good faith that Christians have already been calling on the Holy Spirit for several thousand years now.