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The Archdiocese of Boston has released an "Archdiocesan Synthesis" of the local process of the Church-wide Synod on Synodality.
The document was published on the archdiocese's website Nov. 16 and can be viewed at bit.ly/BostonSynthesis.
In late July of 2022, the Archdiocese of Boston submitted the synthesis to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). It represents the work of numerous parishes, communities, and groups.
In the document, the archdiocese noted that it "conducted the pre-Synod phase from August of 2021 through July of 2022 although because of COVID most parish meetings happened in April, May, and June of 2022."
"Twelve training and information sessions for parish leaders were held, in person and online, during February, March, and April. Some 30 parishes and other institutions participated in local Synod meetings and contributed to this document," the document states.
In its announcement of the release of the document, the archdiocese said, "This Synod was a Synod on Synodality. Therefore the primary aim of the synod was to help us to talk about and to develop better skills in listening deeply to one another."
"In the course of such discussions, many issues arose, and many parishes and groups chose to include the various concerns raised in their discussions as a part of their own local Synod report submitted to the archdiocese. We have tried to be faithful in representing those concerns in the synthesis we ourselves submitted to the USCCB, without forgetting that the Synod was more about the process of listening itself rather than about the issues that inevitably get raised when we listen to one another," the archdiocese added.
The USCCB itself has presented its own document, entitled the "National Synthesis of the People of God in the United States of America for the Diocesan Phase of the 2021-2023 Synod: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission," to the Holy See. Links to that document, in English and Spanish, can be found at: www.usccb.org/resources/us-national-synthesis-2021-2023-synod.