The synodal process calls for patient listening, but it is hard for it to flourish in a culture of online surveys and instant consumer feedback

Fr Joshua Whitfield is a father of five, husband, and parish priest at St Rita’s Catholic Church in Dallas, Texas. A former priest in the Episcopal Church, he has been the priest at St Rita’s for over a decade. When the Sixteenth Ordinary Synod of Bishops – the “synod on synodality”– was announced, he was thrilled. “I’d rather be talking about synodality than lawsuits,” Fr Whitfield said from his book-filled office via Zoom. “Synodality is church stuff, and churches should be doing churchy stuff.” Churchy stuff, in Whitfield’s eyes, is caring for the Church’s sacramental and pastoral life rather than its bottom line. Softly-spoken, with square glasses and shock of brunette hair, Whitfield looks as if he would be at home in the nineteenth century, but he is a keen student of the Second Vatican Council, and he sees the synod as participating and continuing the spirit of that council.

Most Catholics in the United States barely registered Pope Francis’ announcement of the synod in March 2020; and many – even those who regularly attend Mass and are involved in their parish – still don’t even know it’s happening. The diocesan phase of the synod – originally scheduled to end in April, but later extended to August – is supposed to consist of “listening sessions” conducted in each parish. Rather than “town halls”, forums or debates, these listening sessions are intended to be transformative spaces of mutual encounter.