Having lived this year’s Season of Creation intensely, deepening our capacity to listen and journey together inspired by this year’s theme “Listen to the Voice of Creation”, we are happy to share the results and reflections from our synodal listening process that took place during the first semester. After much work and dedication, our contribution to the Synod on Synodality called by Pope Francis was submitted in August. You can find the full text of our contribution in English and Spanish here.
Summary of Results
Highlighted quote:“By being at the service of the Church through our distinctive charism for integral ecology and a synodal way of thinking, deciding and acting, LSM can help the Church itself grow in its process of eco-conversion for the whole world and God’s people.” (excerpt from the conclusion of the LSM Synod contribution)
Top 5 points identified from the synodal listening sessions:
- Synodality also means journey together towards a common goal of integral ecology with people inside and outside the Church, listening to the diversity of voices – human and non-human
- Synodality is actually in the DNA of the Laudato Si’ encyclical, and calls for a personal and community journey cultivating eco-spirituality and sustainable lifestyles
- The perspective of integral ecology drawn from Laudato Si’ is what allows an openness without fear of change and dialogue – dissensus to find consensus
- Need for methodologies and resources both about care for creation as well about how to live more synodally, keeping in mind that constant and repetitive practice of listening and dialogue is the best formation there is
- By being at the service of the Church through our distinctive charism for integral ecology and a synodal way of thinking, deciding and acting, LSM can help the Church itself grow in its process of eco-conversion for the whole world and God’s people
The Process
Our synodal process this year at LSM started in late March, with a long process of discernment and planning along with the synodality working group composed by members of the Secretariat, members of the Global Membership Council, and spiritual and theological consultants. Although time was short, the commitment and dedication of several members from our network was a beautiful testimony to this shared desire of growing deeper as a movement at the service of our Church and society.
The synodal listening sessions took place during the month of June, organized by regional Chapters and Circles, as well as five online sessions organized by the Global Secretariat in English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. A total of 30 countries were represented in these sessions with the participation of members from our network worldwide. These sessions followed the proposed agenda that was developed by the synodality working group and promoted via email and through the June LS Encounter.
Once the reports from those sessions were received, the synodality working group along with representatives from the Global Membership Council went through the material and worked on the process of synthesizing all the information collected.
Next Steps
In a special way, through the feedback received from the listening sessions, we were able to identify how the core values, history, mission, practices and structure of LSM correspond to the 10 consultation question proposed by the Synod on Synodality as well as challenge us to improve areas where we are yet to be more synodal. These aspects particular to LSM have all been gathered and will be taken into account for the wider process that has been set in motion as a result of this synodality journey as well as the initiatives from the Board of Directors and the Secretariat to improve LSM by further embedding synodality in our leadership bodies.
For this reason, similar to Pope Francis’ decision to extend the Synod on Synodality to 2024, our survey on synodality that was planned for this year as the second stage to our synodal process has now been extended to 2023 for wider discernment that will continue to be in communion with the synodality journey of the Church.
Having Laudato Si’ as our guiding light, integral ecology sets us apart in the service to the Catholic Church worldwide. When Pope Francis calls us the Church to reflect and live synodality, we must remember that this journey for the Church must be intrinsically connected to the call to care for creation. Therefore, to listen and journey together, the Church must also listen to the voice of creation. As stated in the conclusion of the LSM Synod contribution, “By being at the service of the Church through our distinctive charism for integral ecology and a synodal way of thinking, deciding and acting, LSM can help the Church itself grow in its process of eco-conversion for the whole world and God’s people.” May we go forth growing deeper into our synodal journey with one another, with the Church, and with all of creation.
Read more about synodality related to our movement:
- Living synodality as the Laudato Si’ Movement
- Walking together – Embedding synodality in LSM’s leadership bodies
LSM Synodal Contribution here (in English and Spanish only).