Originally published at National Catholic Register
Promoting synodality in the United States depends more on a conversion of heart than on the creation of new structures, the U.S. bishops emphasized at their fall assembly in Baltimore.
“It’s about cultural change, not necessarily structural change or not necessarily canonical changes, but first and foremost a change in how we can relate one to another and the Body of Christ,” said Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore at a Nov. 13 press conference at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) meeting.
The USCCB’s vice president, Archbishop Lori was one of five bishops who had been tapped by the conference to take part in last month’s Synod on Synodality session in Rome, which brought to a close a four-year process initiated by Pope Francis aimed at discerning how to make the Church more inclusive and participatory.
Throughout the Nov. 11-14 assembly in Baltimore, several bishops who had participated in the synod shared with the assembly and the press that the Church in the United States is already uniquely blessed with the kinds of practices and consultative bodies called for by the synod’s final document, such as finance and pastoral councils.
For instance, USCCB president Archbishop Timothy Broglio spoke of
