At this year’s Pentecost Mass, archbishop formally opens Synod, urges all Catholics to participate
After two years of preparation in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Archbishop Bernard Hebda officially convoked a local, yearlong Synod, which requires the participation of every parish, he announced May 22, 2021 at the beginning of an outdoor Pentecost vigil Mass in Bloomington. There he also expressed hope for deeper unity in the local Church through the Synod and beyond. The declaration was made through a formal convocation decree, which outlined steps the local Church has taken since Pentecost 2019 to follow Pope Francis’ call to be a “listening Church,” including the archbishop’s participation in 30 Prayer and Listening Events that drew more than 8,000 participants and 35,000 comments.
The decree also listed the Synod’s three focus areas Archbishop Hebda identified last year: 1) Forming parishes in the service of evangelization; 2) Forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call; and 3) Forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young. “Throughout this next year, every parish and deanery is to participate in the consultation process, discerning together how we can grow in unity and more vigorously proclaim the Gospel, guided by these focus areas,” he said in the decree.
The Synod concludes next Pentecost Weekend, June 3-5, 2022, with an Archdiocesan Synod Assembly.