Follow-up listening sessions in Diocese of Salt Lake City for Synod on Synodality identify successes and issues that cause distress

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Diocese of Salt Lake City has completed its interim report for the Synod of Bishops; the report was requested by Pope Francis through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In the diocese, 94 listening sessions were conducted with 1,192 people. These listening sessions were conducted earlier this year and were a follow-up to those held two years ago in the initial stages of the synod.

Participants in the most recent listening sessions considered the following questions:

Where have I seen or experienced successes – and distresses – within the Church’s structure(s)/organization/leadership/life that encourage or hinder the mission?

How can the structures and organization of the Church help all the baptized to respond to the call to proclaim the Gospel and to live as a community of love and mercy in Christ?

Response: Successes and Distresses

Utah Catholics think that the Church organization is most successful when its leadership is open, engaged and welcoming and these attitudes are fostered among parishioners.

“When the faithful are willing to take responsibility in leadership within the Church there is a flourishing,” the report says. “When a priest is not willing to listen and work with parishioners it becomes a distress.”  

Faith formation opportunities at all levels also are important for the Church to be successful, according to the report, and Utah Catholics value Church leadership being consistent in the celebration of the Eucharist. They also appreciate the universality of the world-wide liturgy.

“The Eucharistic Rally and Mass was a visible and wonderful example of coming together as the Body of Christ,” the report says.

Some respondents feel that there is value in offering the Mass separately in English and Spanish, while others feel it is important to promote bilingual efforts. The report suggests that offering both may be the best approach.

A cause of distress is when Mass seems to be rushed, reverence appears to be lost. Also, if there is an attitude that there is only one preferred way to celebrate the Mass reverently, it causes distress, the report states.  

The listening sessions found that Utah Catholics experience the greatest distress when the bishops disagree publicly with the pope and one another, and when the pope creates confusion among the faithful due to inconsistent messaging, such as the blessing of same-sex couples. Poor communication forces the faithful to “fill in the blanks or develop their own version of the truth,” the St. Andrew Parish listening session expressed.  

Various scandals including clergy misconduct, the Vatican’s mishandling of finances and the cover-ups by bishops and the Church are still deep wounds for many Catholics, and the Church’s handling of those issues creates great distress, the interim responses say.

Utah Catholics also find it painful when local priests are not preaching on life issues effectively, and when bishops across the country do not take a stand on political policy contrary to the faith or scandal created with life issues, “e.g. with prominent Catholic politicians promoting death, being unfaithful and then receiving Communion, or redefining, in the public forum, what it means to be a faithful Catholic,” it says.  

Direction from diocesan leadership on how to achieve the Church’s mission, along with what is seen as too much bureaucracy, sometimes seems to be disconnected from the individual circumstances of the parishes and missions, the report says. It adds, “The important decisions from the hierarchy on when and how to focus our efforts, how to accomplish the tasks at hand, are sometimes idealistic and not always realistic given the local realities.”

Leadership structures that exclude women from leadership within the clerical roles are seen as a hindrance to fostering the Church’s mission.  

“If women were not active, the Church would fall,” the Saint Thomas More Parish response said. One suggestion is to permit women religious to preach at Mass.  

Response: Organizational Support

The Church in Utah can address many of the challenges surrounding sharing the faith and on formation due to the vast geographical size of the diocese by embracing technology, the report suggests: “The faithful are thirsting for more media to help them in their spirituality and formation.”  

More online faith formation content should be developed by the local Church and not be left to private companies to provide, it says.

The mission of the Church also needs to be communicated consistently across all its organizations – leadership, parishes and schools – and to be frequently addressed, according to the report.

Learning how to be more inclusive as parishes and faith communities would help the faithful realize the Church’s mission, the responses say, adding, “The lack of clear and consistent structure and organization on the topic of inclusion seems to hurt us as the faithful and the Church at large.”

It is important that the bishop, priests and diocesan officials be physically available to parishes, schools and other entities, and that they communicate that the concerns of the faithful are being addressed, the respondents say. “We want to see our bishop and priests more than at the celebration of sacraments.  With our diocese being so large geographically, this is a serious challenge.  We want to feel that our concerns and complaints are being heard and addressed.  At times, it seems this is not happening.”

Conclusion

Much can be achieved through clear communication to the faithful of “the mission of the Church at all levels of ministry and to be collectively committed in an authentic and genuine manner,” the report concludes. “The absence of good communication creates uncertainty among the people of God and becomes a hinderance to those inquiring into our faith.”

The full report can be found on the diocesan website at https://www.dioslc.org/about-us/synod-of-bishops-2021-2024.