Most Rev. Austin A. Vetter Bishop | Diocese of Helena

The National Synthesis of the People of God in the United States of America for the Interim Stage marks the completion of the Interim Stage 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, the Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops invited episcopal conferences to engage in a listening process in response to the synthesis report "A Synodal Church in Mission."

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, the U.S. Synod Team created three working groups on participation in Church life, social justice, and vocations, bringing together bishops, USCCB staff, diocesan synod leaders, theologians, experts, and pastoral ministers.

The resulting diocesan and working group reports served as source material for this synthesis, which was submitted to the Holy See earlier in May 2024. The National Synthesis for the Interim Stage will, along with contributions from episcopal conferences worldwide, form the basis of work to be engaged by the Catholic Church until the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod in October 2024.

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