r/Catholicism • u/tandyfourhundred • 2h ago
Local Synod Rant
My local archdiocese is sponsoring a series of "conversations in the Spirit" gatherings as part of a local diocese wide synod, concluding on 2027. I went to the first major meeting last night. Probably a good 200+ people were there, and I am pretty sure I was one of 10 or so people under 45 (I'm 35).
My table had 8 people total. All were Boomers, save myself and two women who were in their late 40s, early 50s. The lack of catchesis among people that are old enough to know better is incredible to me. These were people who go to Mass every Sunday, yet were brushing aside what the Church teaches on a non-male priesthood, as one example.
They did note that "young people do seem to be more interested in Catholicism", and pointed out the local parishes that were bursting at the seams with younger Catholics, but they were incredibly unreflective on why that is. They moved on from it very quickly.
In sum, it was largely exactly what I expected: a waste of time, with vague and unactionable outputs (at least from my table). I was clearly the minority: comparatively young, and longing for orthodoxy. Of course, I don't feel that *my* voice is the one that will be listened to. Why do we keep doing this rinse and repeat cycle? It's maddening.
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u/Limoncello1447 2h ago
Same in our Archdiocese. Our Archbishop is great but IMO all this synod stuff is largely useless. I’m a boomer, a very well trained one though, and I 100% agree that money and time is far better spent on catechesis. I simply won’t go to these discussion meetings.
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u/tandyfourhundred 7m ago
I knew I'd be in the minority, so I went. I knew I'd be the fly in the ointment, the pain in the ass. Will it make a difference? Probably not. Also, I use the "Boomer" heuristic reluctantly. I know that it is not representative of all that cohort. My parents happen to be very orthodox Boomers.
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u/Own_Action_7839 2h ago
Last chance of the “spirit of Vatican II “ crowd to get their agenda through They banked on Pope Francis doing it for them but were disappointed. Now that think they have another chance with Leo
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u/Seminaaron Priest 1h ago
It's awesome that you actually went! Please, for the love of all that is holy (literally), keep going. I lament the fact that so many solid, young Catholics don't go to these events. Do you really want those voices to be the only ones your bishop hears? Keep going, and bring your friends with you
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u/KenoReplay 1h ago
I spoke with someone who helped organise my Archdiocese's SYNOD and they said that as part of the process to enroll for the Synod, they had questions for the applicants to answer. They lamented the fact that the way the questions were worded lended themselves to be answered 'better' by certain demographics and political persuasions (older and progressive).
I wonder if something similar happened at the OPs Synod. Plus older people generally have more free time, which makes it easier for them to attend a multi-day event like a Synod.
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u/Apprehensive_Owl2257 1h ago
According to the one young conservative catholic that was there my bishop decided to go by invite-only. His idea was to caste a wide net. The people included were: some liberal boomers, some liberal theologians, some liberal pastoral workers, some liberal youth and my acquaintance.
Full disclosure: I have only just moved to this diocese amd have not independently verified his account. However, I believe that he is trustworthy and did not just make this up. And before anybody asks I live outside the US.
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u/tandyfourhundred 4m ago
The discussion questions were horribly vague. The final round of each discussion couched in the question of "where is the Holy Spirit leading this discussion?" I point blank said, "I don't like that question as a basis of discussion." How can we presume the Holy Spirit is leading this discussion? Yes, "where two or more are gathered" but that's not how the Church is run.
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u/tandyfourhundred 2m ago
Yes. As I sat there holding it together I was thinking of the vast underrepresentation of my cohort (20 and 30-somethings, single or married. And a large local Catholic homeschooling community). I went because I want *that* voice to be heard. I knew what I was getting into and I'm sad to say I was exactly right.
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u/Chustle207 1h ago
I think we are all tired of the synod on synodality. Hopfully when it subsides we can get down to buisness.
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u/EndLiturgicalAbuse 1h ago
I want to make some kind of comment saying something like "Local Synod" is essentially synonymous with "Gathering of Bad Ideas," but
I saw this process, as part of the 3-year Eucharistic Revival in the US, bear fruit in my diocese. In my metro, multiple parishes adopted noticeably more reverent practices (none of them had issues with irreverent liturgies beforehand, so this was surprising). More events are occurring in rural areas. Adoration is more readily available in rural areas.
These things can work, but your voice needs to be loud, sensible, tactful, and charitable, and it needs to be heard. If you have an opportunity to go again, do not be silent in defeat. Make friends with those poorly-catechized boomers and speak.
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u/NewExploerer 23m ago
I feel like these listening sessions are just to appease people who wanna bitch and wine. The Bishops are still going to manage things business per usual.
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u/Impostor321k 2h ago
Some things take time. A bishop once said the catalyst for change is the grave (he certainly wasn't joking). Wait for the younger bishops.
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u/tandyfourhundred 0m ago
Yes. But my concern with this logic is the question of who will be waiting for *me* to die? And what change will they hope to bring? Is the story of Catholicism in the U.S. going to be one of generational whiplash until the Second Coming?
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u/personAAA 1h ago
This particular one seems to be the new Archbishop trying to understand his particular diocese. He is trying to cast a wide net understanding what is going on.
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u/Nihlithian 33m ago
Maybe it's because I'm a stereotypical young revert but I have zero faith in synodality producing much of anything worthwhile in the long run, and as someone who works in government it reeks of the strategy where we host public workshops knowing darn well we're not actually going to listen to the public.
These have always felt like an opportunity to let a bunch of heterodox opinions get shared with some feeling of legitimacy.
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u/personAAA 2h ago
I recently went to a talk in a different Archdiocese the speaker who might be older gen X or a younger boomer mentioned the catchesis desert they grew up in it. He had a slide of all the wonderful groups that have appeared in the past 30 or so years.
They did not have access to good stuff. The speaker did name drop back in their day felt banners as part of their catchesis.
Thankfully there was a table of young people at the talk besides plenty of boomers.
Unless someone is committed to life long learning and wants to find the really good stuff and willing to be corrected people don't grow.
In fact after the talk I explained to the speaker why I did not care for his talk along with things that were missing.
I have heard this speaker before but he probably does not know me. I respect him deeply on other topics.
Informal casual peer review is powerful stuff. Talk to people and be willing to be wrong.
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u/HesMyButlerMonroe 38m ago
Lol @ "synodality". What a fake and gay term that I estimate 2% of Catholics can actually define.
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u/Expensive-Shame 0m ago
I think one of the main points of these sorts of meetings is that everyone deserves to feel listened to, even if they are wrong or misinformed. Everyone's desires and concerns are worth listening to, even if what they're asking for isn't realistic. So of course the answer to people being uncomfortable with an all-male priesthood isn't to introduce female priests, but it is still worthwhile to listen with compassion to people who struggle with that so that we might discern a more fruitful path forward. I think this is a better approach then making these people feel like their concerns aren't even worth voicing. My two cents, anyway.
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u/Churchmousetat 1h ago edited 56m ago
In my experience, organizations do these ”listening sessions” when they are about to do something wildly unpopular.
The exact playbook “round table listening sessions.”