ST. JUDE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY   PAGE SIX              APRIL 28, 2002

All the parishes of our Archdiocese are currently having a second Open Forum Listening Speak-Out Session regarding our up-coming Archdiocesan Synod.  Last Fall all the parishes of our Archdiocese had Open Forum Listening Speak-Up Sessions seeking input for the Synod.  It is true some of the topics discussed in these Open Forum Listening Speak-Out Sessions touched upon areas that the local Church cannot make decisions about.

However, regarding those matters that our Archdiocese can make decisions about, all that information from the Open Forum Listening Speak-Out Sessions has now been collated and put together under five topics.  Once again we are asked to attend an Open Forum Listening Speak-Out Session regarding these five topics.  Our parish Open Forum Listening Speak-Out Session will be held on Saturday, June 1^st, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  Plan now to attend with your suggestions as to how these matters can be dealt with in the days ahead by our Archdiocese. 

A "Synod" is an extra-ordinary consultative assembly of all Fully-Initiated Catholics living within our Archdiocese for the purpose of discussing matters of concern to the development of the faith in our Archdiocese for years to come, and to provide opportunities of collaboration between the priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers, lay-people and the Archbishop of Los Angeles.  The Archbishop serves as the President and must approve all that will be promulgated.  The Archbishop then forwards a copy of the Synod Guidelines and Regulations to the Holy See for final approbation.  But, all are urged to take an active part in the gathering of hopes and solutions as to how we --- all of us, archbishop, auxiliary bishops, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers, lay people --- may be "Church" in Los Angeles now and in the future.

We have already gathered during the Fall in all the parishes of our Archdiocese and shared our hopes and goals and opinions.  Now we will gather again to listen to the ideas and solutions to the five Synodal Topics of all who are present and wish to speak.  Each person will be allowed to speak for three (3) minutes about one of the five Synod topics.  All these ideas and possible solutions will be recorded by Scribes.  Then all those notes will be forwarded to the "Archdiocesan Synod Committee."  Once all this material is collated, each parish will send delegates to our Regional Synod Session in Santa Barbara for two Saturday Sessions in November. 

The delegates you nominated during January and early February will represent us at the Regional Sessions this November.  Our parish was assigned four delegates based upon total parish registration plus the pastor.  You chose Pilar Bartos, Betty DeSantis, Vincent Paul Adams and Dorothy Kelly. 

Aurora Elayda was chosen as Alternate, in case any of the four delegates cannot attend.

At the November Regional Sessions, delegates will be chosen from all present to represent the Santa Barbara-Ventura Region during the Archdiocesan Synod next spring.  Some of our parish delegates just might be chosen to participate in the Archdiocesan Synod next March.

After all five Regions of the Archdiocese have held their Regional Sessions, all that material will be collated and then presented to an Archdiocesan-wide meeting of delegates in March, 2003.  Finally, all the final hopes and dreams, ideas and solutions from the Archdiocesan-wide consultation will be presented as "Synodal Norms" to the Archbishop, just as the "Synod of Bishops" in Rome submits such norms to the Holy Father.  Then, the Archbishop will solemnly promulgate the Norms and the Decrees of the Archdiocesan Synod in the spring of 2003.