Since late 2021, Catholics around the archdiocese have been meeting in small groups at their parishes to tell their faith stories, talk about challenges with the Church and express their ideas for journeying together as a Church guided by the Holy Spirit.

“I’ve been so touched by people’s stories and depth of spirituality and compassion for each other by having these listening sessions. It’s inspiring,” said Paula Martin-Zender, one of five synodal coordinators at Church of the Assumption Parish in Bellingham.

The local listening process is part of Pope Francis’ two-year worldwide consultative initiative, For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission. Input from parish groups will go to the archdiocese by May 5 for compilation, then to the U.S. bishops’ conference and finally to the Vatican and the pope.

“We want to know how the Holy Spirit is speaking to the Church, through the members of the Church,” Archbishop Paul D. Etienne said in a video explaining the synodal process. That input will guide the Church as it seeks “to better understand God’s will and how we are to accomplish it in the Church and in the world today,” he said.

Those who can’t attend an in-person session can complete a synodal survey available on the Archdiocese of Seattle website until April 30. (Survey in Spanish here.)

“I feel honored to be part of something that is so historic,” Martin-Zender said. “I feel that Pope Francis is wanting input.”

Gail Carrisalez, a longtime parishioner at St. Charles Parish in Burlington, said she provided her input as part of a small group that included three people over 60 and two parishioners she estimated were in their 40s.

“Even though our paths have been different, we all want the same things. Most of all we want God,” Carrisalez said. “We’re here for healing.”

Young people who met in a recent listening session at St. Charles “have a love for the Church that I found quite refreshing,” said Denise Rhone, one of the parish’s synodal coordinators.

They told Rhone they want to learn more about their faith so they can “defend it and to share it with others,” she said. “Their hopes and dreams for the future are that more youth are educated in their faith. They see a great need to be prepared to support the parish ministries and take over for those serving today,” Rhone added.

Carrisalez said passing the faith to the younger generation is a concern of adult Catholics, who are also seeking resources for growing in their own faith and are looking for answers from the Church that apply to real-life situations in a changing society.

Catholics she knows are anticipating action by the Church, based on these worldwide listening sessions. “We know that it won’t be right away,” Carrisalez said, but “we need it to happen. We’re expecting it.”

Parish synod coordinators Denise Rhone, left, of St. Charles in Burlington, Ann Gerner of Sacred Heart in La Conner and Pablo Reygosa of St. Charles stand with a parishioner at the synodal kickoff hosted by the five Skagit Valley parishes in February. (Courtesy Ann Gerner)

Starting a dialogue as Church

So far, more than 140 parishes around the archdiocese have hosted listening sessions, with nearly 500 people signed up as coordinators for their parishes, according to Tim Hunt, the archdiocese’s executive director for planning and mission effectiveness.

Rather than a town hall, the sessions are intended to be more liturgical, bringing participants to a prayerful place, Hunt said. The sessions are “not so much about solving a problem, it’s about us coming together as a Church to start a dialogue,” Hunt explained in February during a listening session for parish coordinators.

Although the specific outcome of this process — “the largest consultation that’s ever taken place in the Church,” Hunt noted — isn’t known, “I think it will bring some clarity at local parish levels, at the diocesan level and hopefully at the global level,” he said.

“Ultimately it’s going to be the Holy Spirit that makes this a success,” Hunt added.

At a half-dozen parishes in Bellingham and Skagit County, issues rising to the top from their small-group discussions include:

  • Listening to and focusing on young Catholics.
  • Expanding outreach efforts, especially to those on the margins.
  • Being less judgmental and more welcoming and inclusive.
  • Allowing priests to be married and women to be priests.

Although opinions on some issues and ideas diverged, all those participating were respected through the listening process, said Chris Eusebio, an Assumption parishioner.

“Everybody affirmed the other … and validated that our desires for the Church were valid and were good desires,” Eusebio said, “even though maybe the thing I was most passionate about wasn’t somebody else’s.”

She and her husband, Manny Eusebio, are an example of that dynamic.

“I think if we’re going to still have priests, we need to allow priests to get married,” Chris said. “That’s one of my big ones.” She also feels “we’ve lost the joy of Jesus in the Mass [because] we’re encumbered by the rules.”

Manny said he is more about “empowering and involving” younger Catholics in the Church. “A focus on youth is really, really important,” he said. “I feel like the whole youth ministry piece should be a primary focus.”

In the small groups, there were also some difficult conversations around the clergy sex abuse scandal and alternative lifestyles in today’s culture.

For instance, Martin-Zender said, parents of gay children want to know “how are they going be a Catholic when they love their child so much and their partner?”

Denise Rhone, a synodal coordinator at St. Charles, said she was surprised at how “to the right and to the left” participants were. “We all have a distinct [Catholic] faith, we believe in the same traditions, and yet we can have such differing ideas,” Rhone said.

Hunt said a preliminary look at the feedback being sent by parishes around the archdiocese shows some of the same issues and experiences, including the desire to get young people involved in the Church.

Participants have shared their pain around feelings of being disconnected from the Church, and they recognize “the importance of gaining greater understanding and knowledge of another person’s experience,” Hunt said. “God is trying to tell us something in those moments if we’re willing to listen.”

“People really crave connectivity and community,” he added. Even when difficult issues were discussed, the meetings ended “in a very hopeful tone,” Hunt said. “People just appreciate being heard.”

Mayra Venelo holds a listening session with her confirmation students at Immaculate Conception Parish in Mount Vernon. (Courtesy Ann Gerner)

What’s next?

The feedback received by the archdiocese during the initial phase will be compiled into a 10-page report and sent on to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In the continental phase, bishops will draft regional reports for the Vatican. During the universal phase, beginning in October 2023, the Vatican’s General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will begin discussing the input and ideas gathered from the people.

Some of those who participated locally wonder how their input will have an effect beyond the local or archdiocesan level.

“My fear is that these are listening sessions to appease people and that nothing will really change,” Chris Eusebio said. At the least, she said, “maybe people feel like they will have been heard.”

Manny Eusebio also wondered how to make “actionable sense” of the faith stories shared. The value, he said, is in hearing each other’s stories, which “strengthens the fabric of the parish, in that it opens the lines of communication.”

Martin-Zender said some people don’t trust the U.S. bishops — they think input from the listening sessions will be watered down and made to look rosy when it goes to Pope Francis.

“That’s part of why I’ve gotten involved,” she said. “I want to make sure people are being heard.”

“I do trust our local bishops,” Martin-Zender added, noting that the synodal process in the Archdiocese of Seattle is “very layperson organized and empowered.”

In the long run, she said, “we need to trust in the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit isn’t going to let us down. We’ve got to share with each other, deeply listen to each other and trust in the Holy Spirit’s process.”

‘People were really jazzed’

Synodal coordinators Sandra Ruiz and Steve McCartt help a parishioner sign up for a listening session during a Synod Celebration kickoff for the five Skagit Valley parishes in February. The parishes’ eight coordinators choose orange to match the synod’s official logo. (Courtesy Ann Gerner)

The Skagit Valley cluster of five parishes with one pastor — St. Charles in Burlington, Sacred Heart in La Conner, Immaculate Conception in Mount Vernon, Immaculate Heart of Mary in Sedro-Woolley and St. Catherine Mission in Concrete — had eight coordinators who planned their parishes’ synodal listening sessions (in English and Spanish) as a group.

At first, many parishioners were reluctant to participate, not knowing the purpose of the sessions or what the end result would be — but those who did participate felt it was worthwhile, according to a summary from the synodal coordinators.

“At the end of every session, people were really jazzed,” said Ann Gerner, synodal coordinator at Sacred Heart.

“They loved being able to share their story and to share their thoughts,” said Denise Rhone, synodal coordinator at St. Charles. They are looking for ways to build up their faith, such as through classes, book clubs or other offerings from the parish. “They do want to see some results that will come down the road,” Rhone added.

In late February, Gerner, Rhone and the other Skagit Valley coordinators compared notes from the sessions at their individual parishes and provided a summary:

  • Participants were glad to be heard and would like more opportunities for their parishes to listen to them. They said greater communication is needed within each parish.
  • Priests should be able to marry and women should be ordained to the priesthood. “This was a universal response from participants,” according to the coordinators’ summary. “Our priests are aging and overworked; we’re depending on retired priests to fill in the gaps, which isn’t fair to them.”
  • All participants wanted more outreach and ways to become more welcoming to visitors and marginalized groups. Parishes need robust adult religious education. Multi-ethnic celebrations would be a way to bring people together, both in the parish and the broader community.
  • A “huge” issue was how to bring young people back to the Church. A strong background in religious education is critical so they have the tools they need to deal with a secular society.

And, the coordinators noted, most suggestions from participants — except the issue of married/women priests — could be implemented locally.