The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued the National Synthesis of the People of God in the United States for the Interim Stage, marking the completion of this phase of the 2021-2024 Synod: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission.

Following the conclusion of the First Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod in October 2023, episcopal conferences were invited to engage in a listening process based on the synthesis report "A Synodal Church in Mission." Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine, led this process and oversaw the preparation of the synthesis.

“Participation in this Interim Stage has been an opportunity to deepen our ongoing formation in synodality and in the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council,” said Bishop Flores. “It is with deep gratitude that I share this synthesis which now becomes part of our ongoing record of theological and pastoral reflection together.”

The USCCB invited dioceses and eparchies to hold two to three listening sessions during Lent and submit a three-to-five-page document to the U.S. Synod Team. Additionally, three working groups on participation in Church life, social justice, and vocations were formed. These groups included bishops, USCCB staff, diocesan synod leaders, theologians, experts, and pastoral ministers. The resulting reports served as source material for this synthesis submitted to the Holy See earlier this month.

“This document reflects the sense that there exists among Catholics in the United States a deep desire to rebuild and strengthen our communion as the Body of Christ,” expressed Bishop Flores. “Rebuilding trust where it is frayed involves practicing the humanly graceful art of listening to each other and speaking together. The more we do this, the more we realize that it is the Lord who never fails us.”

The National Synthesis for the Interim Stage will form part of a global effort leading up to work by episcopal conferences worldwide until October 2024 when the Second Session of XVI Ordinary General Assembly takes place.

The National Synthesis for the Interim Stage is available in English and Spanish. More information about the 2021-2024 Synod can be found at usccb.org/synod.