PASTORAL
LETTER ON THE SYNOD
INTRODUCTION
 We
stand on the threshold of the Great Jubilee commemorating the 2000th anniversary of the
birth of Jesus. We are about to enter into a new century and new millennium. What will the
future bring?
Some view the future with pessimism, saying that the Great Jubilee will come and go and
nothing will change; life will go on as usual. Others look to the future with great
anxiety, fearing that great catastrophes and chastisements await us. In his apostolic
letter on the Great Jubilee (Tertio Millennio Adveniente), our Holy Father, Pope John Paul
II, takes a much more optimistic view of the future. Prophetically he says that the Great
Jubilee will reveal a new springtime of faith and Christian living, if we are docile to
the Holy Spirit.
The words, "if we are docile to the Holy Spirit" are the condition and key to
a hopeful future and tell us what we must do. To prepare the way for a new springtime of
faith and Christian living, we must listen to the Holy Spirit and follow His promptings
and guidance. In the Archdiocese of Vancouver, we will strive to listen to the Holy Spirit
and follow His guidance through a process called a synod.
WHAT IS A DIOCESAN
SYNOD
A diocesan synod is a process involving wide participation of clergy, religious, and
laity in an effort to listen to the Holy Spirit and to discern where He is leading us as a
community of believers.
WHY A SYNOD IN
THE ARCHDIOCESE?
We need a diocesan synod to help us to read the signs of the times and thereby discern
where God wishes to lead us. The synod will give new direction, orientation, life, and
energy to our diocesan Church, helping us to become a more mission-driven Church and
empowering us to foster the coming of the new springtime of faith and Christian living.
BY WHAT
MISSION ARE WE TO BE DRIVEN?
First of all, we must be driven by the core mission of the Church, which is the same as
the core mission of Jesus, namely:
1. To liberate humanity from all that oppresses it, especially from sin and the evil
one.
2. To bring God's life to all people. "I have come so that they may have life and
have it to the full" (Jn.10:10).
Within this core mission of the Church, the Archdiocese of Vancouver has a special
mission determined by the circumstances of the Archdiocese. To get a clearer view of that
mission, the Archdiocese must listen to the Holy Spirit by reflecting on the signs of the
times. In response to the mandate of Jesus, "Go, therefore, make disciples of all
nations" (Matthew 28:19), we must reflect on the concrete circumstances of our
Archdiocese and must then seek to create the conditions necessary so that the salvation of
Jesus may ever more effectively reach all of God's children.
More specifically, like Jesus, the Good Shepherd, we must be driven by the desire and
inner need to care for, to reach out to and evangelize, three categories of sheep:
1. Those who already belong to the fold
We must seek ways to serve ever more faithfully those who already belong to the fold,
striving to meet the challenge presented by our constantly growing and multicultural
Catholic population. With regard to this category of those who already belong, we must
also have special concern for those who are baptized but are not yet in full communion
with the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Working for Christian unity is not an
option; it is a must.
2. Those who have strayed from the fold
The Good Shepherd leaves the ninety-nine and goes in search of the lost sheep. Are we
doing this? Part of our special mission in the Archdiocese must be to reach out to those
who have strayed from the fold. We have among us a large number who have drifted away. To
be faithful to our mission, we must find ways of reaching out to them in order to bring
them back.
3. Those who do not yet belong to the fold
To be faithful to our core mission and to our special mission dictated by the
circumstances of our Archdiocese, we need to become a much more missionary and
evangelizing Church than we are at present. We need to move from a maintenance model of
Church to become a more mission-driven, evangelizing Church. This is necessary because a
high percentage of our population has either not heard of Christ or does not yet believe
in Him. We are really living in missionary territory. For us it is no longer necessary to
go to foreign countries to be missionaries. The foreign countries have come to us. We need
to become missionaries right here at home.
HOW CAN OUR ARCHDIOCESE ATTAIN
ITS SPECIAL MISSION?
The Archdiocese can attain its special mission and meet its special challenges by
becoming more like the early Christian Church described in the Acts of the Apostles. This
early community of Christian believers was small, simple, and made up of ordinary,
uneducated people; but it was also a devout, prayerful, caring, and committed community,
driven by a boldly zealous and burning, inner need to share the treasures of the faith
with others, no matter what the cost.
Looking at the early Church, no one would have given it much of a chance, and yet,
empowered by the Holy Spirit whose power is not limited by worldly predictions, the early
Christian community made a deep and lasting impact on the world of its time. By the power
of the Spirit, the handful of early believers spread the faith from the north to the south
and from the east to the west and laid the foundations for Christian civilization for
centuries to come. Never before or after in the history of humanity did so few accomplish
so much. What was their secret? Docility to the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.
As far as one can tell from the Acts of the Apostles, it appears that the early
Christian community did not develop a highly organized or sophisticated missionary
outreach program. The Christian community itself was the program. It exercised its
evangelizing power primarily in two ways. First, it radiated a power of attraction. It was
a highly appealing community. It was so warm and caring. It shone with peace, joy,
happiness, and enthusiasm. There was something alive and on fire in the primitive
Christian community, something contagious. Non-believers seeing this community could not
help but be attracted to it and desire to be part of it. Second, the early Christian
community produced and sent out gifted and zealous missionaries to proclaim the Good News
to those who had not yet heard it.
The authentic and highly successful, early Christian community described in the Acts of
the Apostles can and should serve as the model for every Christian community, including
the family, the parish, the school, and the diocese. For this reason, the early Christian
Church has been chosen to serve as the working model for our Archdiocesan synod. By
becoming like the early Christian Church, the Archdiocese can come alive in a new way and
can have an impact on our world of today similar to that of the early Church in its time.
To become more like the early Christian community, we will need to work hard to nurture
and develop the traits that characterized the primitive Church and made it what it was. In
particular, we need to focus and work on the five basic traits of the early Church:
The Early Church Persevered in the Teaching of the Apostles
We have to examine how we teach the faith, in the home, in the parish, in the school,
and in the diocese. Are we teaching the faith faithfully and in its entirety? Are we
reaching all age groups? Are we reaching all who need to hear the Good News? Are we
teaching the faith effectively? How can we improve?
The Early Church Persevered in the Breaking of the Bread
We have to examine how we celebrate the sacred liturgy, particularly the Holy Eucharist
and the Sacraments. Are Sunday Masses and other liturgical celebrations meaningful and
life-giving? How can we improve?
3. The Early Church Persevered in Prayer outside of the Liturgy
In our diocese do people pray individually and as a family on a daily basis? Or is
prayer limited to Sunday Mass? What can we or should we be doing to foster individual,
family, and group prayer outside of Mass?
4. The Early Church Persevered in Christian Community
(Koinonia)
Living Christian community involves living a twofold relationship, a life-sharing and
life-giving communion relationship with Jesus (the Head) and a similar relationship with
each other (the Body). The relationship of the early Christians with each other was
characterized by three traits:
i. They were of one mind and one heart, that is, they had common ideals and goals
(oneness of mind) and they were committed and loyal to their ideals and goals (oneness of
heart).
ii. They took care of each other. The Acts of the Apostles say that in the early
Christian community "none of their members was ever in need" (Acts 4:34) and
this because they gladly shared their time, talent, and even their possessions.
iii. They visibly loved one another. Their love for each other could be seen so clearly
that onlookers could say: "See how they love one another."
In our families, in our parishes and schools, and in our diocese, do we reflect and
live this image of Christian community? Where do we fall short of the ideal? What is
needed to improve the quality of our Christian communities?
5. The Early Christian Church was an Outreaching, Evangelizing, Missionary Church.
"Day by day, the Lord added to their community those destined to be saved"
(Acts 2:47). The primitive Church was not ghettoish nor was it content to just look after
those who already belonged. It was not a maintenance model Church, but rather a
mission-driven, evangelizing Church. What kind of Church are we? What needs to change or
happen if we are to become mission-driven, more like the early Church?
WHAT MUST WE DO TO BECOME
MORE LIKE THE EARLY CHURCH?
The Archdiocesan synod process will provide some answers to this question by leading us
through the three phases of the See-Judge-Act method.
In the See phase of the synod process, we will be invited to take stock of where we are
at. At this stage, we will have to ask ourselves the following questions: In what ways do
we resemble the early Church? In what ways do we fail to resemble the early Church?
In the Judge phase, we will be invited to reflect on our concrete situation in the
light of Scripture, Tradition, and Church teaching, and to recommend orientations,
directions, and measures that need to be adopted in order to become more like the early
Church.
In the Act phase, measures needed to become more like the early Christian Church will
be put in place and will be implemented.
HOW WILL
THE WORK OF THE SYNOD UNFOLD?
The synodal process will stretch over a considerable period of time and will entail the
following steps.
1. Preparation
A preparatory commission was established some time ago. Its role is to prepare and
facilitate the synodal process.
2. "See" Phase
The purpose of this phase will be to determine where we are at as a Church and to see
how we measure up with regard to the five traits of the early Christian Church. This will
be accomplished by the use of a questionnaire and by a thousand random telephone
interviews. Both the questionnaire and the telephone interviews will be based on the five
traits of the early Christian Church. The questionnaire will be widely distributed so that
all who wish to participate in this phase may have an opportunity to do so. To ensure that
our survey will be scientifically valid, the Archdiocese has retained the services of
Angus Reid Group, Inc.
3. The "Judge" Phase
Once the factual information is available from the "See" phase, five
commissions will be formed. Each commission will relate to one of the five traits of the
early Church. The five commissions will then "judge" the relevant information
obtained by the Angus Reid Group by studying and reflecting on the facts in the light of
Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and especially in view of the Second Vatican Council and of
other magisterial teachings of the Church. Having done this, each commission will draw up
a white paper outlining our situation as Church and proposing directions, orientations,
and measures to be taken to help us become more like the early Christian Church.
Once completed, the white papers will be released and distributed widely one at a time
with a request for reactions, comments, and suggestions. Individuals or groups may respond
to the white papers. At this stage, group discussions will be encouraged and may be useful
to produce more insightful and reasoned responses to the white papers. As soon as the
reactions to a given white paper have been received, they will be forwarded to the
pertinent commission. The commissions will then redo the white papers by incorporating the
reactions received. These five revised documents will then become the working papers for
the synod.
4. The "Act" Phase
Once the five working papers are ready, the actual synod will be held. A truly
representative group of clergy, religious, and laity will participate in the actual synod.
The synod will study the working papers, will discuss them, and will prepare and vote on
recommendations that it wishes to present to the Archbishop. Once the Archbishop has
received the recommendations of the synod, it is then up to him to exercise his
legislative powers by converting recommendations into legislation and pastoral directives.
Finally, to ensure that the fruits of the synod are not lost, an Archdiocesan body will be
entrusted to oversee the implementation of the recommendations adopted.
HOW
LONG WILL THE ENTIRE SYNODAL PROCESS TAKE?
It is estimated that the entire process will take about three years and possibly more.
Since we desire a synod that provides for the participation of all who want to take part,
we have to be prepared for a lengthy process. The more who participate, the longer the
process and the better the fruits of the synod will be. A synod should be an exercise of
Church, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through all its members.
CONCLUSION
I strongly encourage each and every one of you to participate in the work of our synod.
In a special way, I ask you to pray for God's blessing on our common undertaking,
conscious of the fact that: "If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its
builders labour" (Psalm 127). The success of our synod will depend more on how much
and how well we pray than on any other work or effort. Therefore, let us pray much and
well. In particular, let us not say: "Lord, bless what we are doing," but
rather, "Lord, by Your Spirit help us to recognize what You want and empower us to do
it."
Since the new springtime will come only if we are docile to the Holy Spirit, I entrust
the synod to the care of our Blessed Mother Mary, the model of docility to the Holy
Spirit. May she teach us how to listen to and act in the power of the Spirit.
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