The next step in the Archdiocesan Synod process takes place the weekends of Feb. 26 and March 5, with Parish Synod Leadership Teams — 10 Catholics and their pastor — gathering at each parish to pray about, discuss and propose changes to propositions for the Synod Assembly in June.
The propositions are based on feedback shared from small group sessions held at parishes last fall, and even some thoughts from earlier prayer and listening events, Archbishop Bernard Hebda told “Practicing Catholic” host Patrick Conley for a show debuting 9 p.m. Feb. 18 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda
“So basically, the process is one of sharpening and funneling,” the archbishop said.
Archbishop Hebda joined Conley to discuss the next steps in the Synod process. “It’s important that the whole Church understand what it is we’re doing and why we’re doing it, and how things are unfolding,” the archbishop said.
Pope Francis has called for Catholics to be a synodal Church, the archbishop said. In some ways, it’s easy for people to look at just this one event, he said. “But we have to always remember that if that’s true, that the Church, by her nature, has to be Synodal and consultative, that this is going to be an ongoing process as well.” The archdiocese is setting priorities for the next three to five years, he said, and a need for more activity will follow, but not as intensely as what the archdiocese is experiencing now.
“But we know that, as we look at the great need of our parishes, that it has to be an ongoing discernment of where the Holy Spirit will be leading us,” he said.
Archbishop Hebda is celebrating Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul the morning of the first day of the parish consultations, followed by an invitation to adoration.
For most people in the archdiocese, he said, at this point, “it’s an opportunity for prayer and preparing their hearts for whatever it is that the Holy Spirit might be asking of us after the Synod. So, the focus would definitely be on prayer at this point.”
To stay up to date with Synod developments, visit archspm.org.
The full interview with Archbishop Hebda also airs at 1 p.m. Feb. 19 and 2 p.m. Feb. 20.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Liz Kelly and Nell O’Leary from Blessed Is She, who describe a new book of devotionals called “Made New”; and Deacon Nathan Allen, a judge for the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who discusses marriage annulments and free annulment consultations on Ash Wednesday.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at
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