In October, the San Diego Diocese will invite the entire community to participate in small-group dialogues at parishes and schools as part of the synod, which will be entering its third year that month.
The dialogues will follow the same format as the sessions held in the spring of 2022. As planned by Cardinal Robert McElroy, the dialogue sessions will provide another opportunity in the diocese for the faithful to encounter one another, this time focused on the Eucharist and how to build Eucharistic communities.
Encountering others and listening to one another are at the heart of the synod Pope Francis launched in October of 2021. He called on parishes to use the synodal process of inviting everyone to the table, particularly the vulnerable, then working together to address the concerns raised, all guided by the Holy Spirit. Over time, the pope hopes this new way of “being Church” will help renew parishes, schools and the Church itself.
Victor Carmona has a unique perspective on this synodal journey.
He’s a man of faith, having been born into a Catholic family and nurtured by parish and religious communities on both sides of the border.
He participated in the small-group sessions at his San Diego parish in the spring of 2022, in which participants candidly shared their joys, disappointments and hopes for the Church.
He’s a member of the commission of mostly lay leaders from San Diego and Imperial Valley that has been advising the diocese on the synodal process.
He participated in the Continental Phase of the synod, where representatives of faith communities across the U.S. and Canada shared the findings of their synods.
And he’s a nationally recognized theologian who teaches at the University of San Diego.
On a recent day, Carmona reflected on the synod’s impact on the diocese and beyond.
“A beautiful and challenging aspect of the synodal journey is that it reframes our thinking,” he said. “The synodal journey has encouraged us to focus on the process itself — on dialogue….
Being process- rather than results-oriented can be unsettling “because it calls for a vulnerability we are not used to experiencing when encountering others, even if they are from the same faith community….
He said that the synodal journey is “nurturing us … to be a Church that heals the polarization wounding many in our society.”
From the Southern Cross
Victor Carmona might be well-meaning, but I have no idea what he’s talking about.
He’s a professional academic. They produce nothing. They are paid to talk, and they don’t have to make sense. No wonder he loves the synod dialogue process. That’s all he does with his life is dialogue. He produces nothing. Most academics are charlatans.
They just want to know how to become yet another protestant sect while claiming to be Catholic. Just go already!
Fulfill your Sundsy Mass obligation. Frequent Confession regularly. Pray one Holy Hour a week (daily is better). Pray a daily rosary to foster Marian devotion. Wear sacramentals for spiritual protection. Study the catechism and scripture. Practice the corporal works of mercy and live by the Golden Rule and Ten Commandments.
There, now you are a good Catholic. Synodal way not necessary.
Spread the gospel.
St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel at all times. And when necessary, use words.”
That quote is widely attributed to St. Francis of Assisi but it is not really true.
You must use words to preach the Gospel.
I think it is used to encourage people to act like Christians as well as talk like them.
But there is no way that someone seeing you feeding the poor is going to get “Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead. He died for the salvation of all mankind. He is the Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father who was incarnated in the Virgin Mary.”
Great post, Del Gue! Much better than the nonsense of the Pope and Cdl. McElroy!
Focus on how to go to Heaven instead.
I’ll say the synod is a joke. The last few lines show how much of a joke and a waste it is: the synod is about process, about dialogue, not about results. Just keep spinning your wheels, San Diego; you’ll eventually still go nowhere, but you’ll have had a lot of meetings.
The synod is loved by people who want to pretend they’re doing something meaningful. I’m bored with and tired of the synod. I think St. Paul would be too.
You stay classy, San Diego.
In matters of religion, YOUR opinion
counts for nothing. And that’s the
way it should be.
Sorry, this isn’t group therapy.
Nobody understands the Synod. The people running in my diocese did not get it either.
Just think of all the carbon emissions caused by people driving to synod meetings. Maybe the diocesan green office or whatever it’s called should weigh in on the ecological sin of having excessive synod meetings.
What I got out of the article is that the Holy Spirit is directing us to focus on the Real Presence in the Euchristic Banquet and to get to know our brothers and sisters in the parish setting.
The problem with appeals to “the Holy Spirit is saying/guiding/directing/prompting/leading” is that nobody really knows what that means. James Martin and Bryan Massingale think the Holy Spirit is leading the church to change her teaching about sexual morality and marriage. Peter Kwansiewski thinks the Holy Spirit is leading the church to suppress the Novus Ordo Mass and reinstate the TLM with the pre-1955 Holy Week liturgical rites. Anne Barnhardt thinks the Holy Spirit is showing the church that Francis is an antipope and that the see of Rome is vacant.
Nobody has a clear idea of what the Holy Spirit is doing or saying. They just claim to know in order to sound pious and knowledgeable. Anybody can say the Holy Spirit is teaching this or that, and they feel like they’re in the know for being able to enlighten others about God’s will. Holy Spiritism is the new gnosticism.
Discernment of spirits can be difficult but not with these examples.
Forget the people just look at the ideas.
Changing the Church’s teaching on morality and marriage is not from the Holy Spirit.
Suppressing the Mass is not from the Holy Spirit.
Obviously, the idea that the see is vacant and Pope Francis is an anti-Pope is not from the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is saying what He has always said “Go and make disciples. Baptize them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
and of the Pope “He who hears You, hears me.”
Yes, I know that Jesus said those things. The Holy Trinity is One.
John C. this is the diocese of San Diego doing its own thing. It is not a part of the Synod on Synodality.
But yes, focus on the Eucharist at small group meeting and building a Eucharistic community sounds good.
But some things that the Bishop of San Diego wrote in America magazine makes it a little concerning.
And again with ambiguity-Eucharist can mean the Mass or the Blessed Sacrament. Real Presence was not said in the article.
How about staying with the Catholic dogma given to us 2,000+ years ago by Christ and His Apostles? Look what the Novus Ordus has caused: 75% decline in Mass attendance, and a complete lack of understanding of the Transformation occurring during every Mass. Get back to the traditional Catholic teachings, an optioinal Latin Mass, and not some clown show or a DJ priest putting on a show.
Holy Srpritism-I agree with what you are saying.Thats why I led with,”What I got of the article”.I certainly don’t speak for the Spirt.Sorry for any confusion I may have created.I would like to see more of a brotherly attitude in my parish and a wider realization of the Real Presence.
Too great a percentage of Catholics don’t believe in the True Presence. So let’s try to do something about that. One, just one option that might be effective is to get people together in small groups around the diocese to talk about the Eucharist, to teach about it, and to start to convince people that it is a true faith. Why are so many opposed to that? Why do so many attack those who are at least trying to do something to make the reign of God a real thing in people’s lives? Why?
A better way would be to sing more reverent music at Mass. How is anyone supposed to believe that Catholics believe that the Eucharist is the Real Presence of Christ and that Mass is the representation of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary when most of the music at parishes are ditties that sound like contemporary pop songs or showtunes with God lyrics. Walk into any parish celebration of Mass, and you can tell by the ethos and by the music whether they believe. Most don’t. For most people, Mass is a religious hootenanny. Talking about the Eucharist won’t change the experience of Mass. Get rid of the hippie Boomer music.
The ditties are not even contemporary. Check out the copyright dates sometime. In any case, more needs to be done to raise the conscious appreciation of the Mass as sacrifice. And quit calling the altar a table. We are NOT Tudor Anglicans, for Pete’s sake!
Two definitions of altar: a usually raised structure or place on which sacrifices are offered or incense is burned in worship
a tablelike construction used in the Christian church in celebrating the Eucharist. In the old days, the table was attached to a larger structure facing the back of the church.
Look at the altar in St. Peters at the Vatican. It is not attached to a back-wall and has been that way for centuries.
The altar is a table which is why we are invited, each time we attend Mass, to come to the table of plenty.
Table of plenty is not a scriptural expression. I hate that Dan Schutte song. Talk about bad Catholic music that conveys a sense of casualness instead of reverence… Table of Plenty is a song that I most detest. The only one I hate even more is when the geriatric soprano cantress belts out “All are welcome, ALL are WEL-come, ALL ARE WELCOME in this place” with a gusto that would compete with Swifties singing “Shake It Off” at full volume and as if the louder and more emphatically she sings it, it’s likely to usher in the Second Coming.
Just ’cause you don’t like it, doesn’t mean it’s no good.
I’m not sure what it means that the diocese says he is “a nationally recognized theologian who teaches at the University of San Diego.”
What is he recognized for? Does that mean “he’s on our payroll?” The Apostles and most Saints were not theologians.
He said that the synodal journey is “nurturing us … to be a Church that heals the polarization wounding many in our society.” Is he suggesting that the polarizing wounding of our society by and since the sexual revolution of the 60’s and 70’s be reversed and that we return to a common morality that was accepted (even when not lived) by most societies for most of history?
Yes, stop polarization, keep the Faith that comes to us from Christ, who heals, liberates and saves.
Google him and you will see.
I think he works for USD not the diocese.
If you click the link, they have a history of the synod but at the end, while their bishop will be at the Synod of Synodality in Rome
“Diocese to hold small-group dialogues in parishes and schools, focusing on how to build Eucharistic communities.”
Maybe, I’m dumb but I thought parishes were Eucharistic communities.
I didn’t realize the school was an independent private college, no longer affiliated with the Church. It was once part of the diocese. That’s how old I am.
Now it describes itself as “infused with contemporary Catholic values.” In contrast with eternal Catholic values?
“The University of San Diego is set at the edge of an international gateway on a campus that’s consistently ranked among the nation’s most beautiful. Our focus on academic excellence — inspired by faith, infused with contemporary Catholic values and nurtured in a warm, community environment…
USD is located in one of the world’s great diverse urban centers. San Diego’s proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border, where communities and cultures converge…”
What happens when cultures collide, like Christian culture and contemporary American culture?
I see another case of synoditis. May I prescribe two anti-inflammatories: faith and reason.
Use them.
Yes, and it’s impossible to overdose on faith or reason. Used in combination, results are excellent. Feel free to get a second opinion from the angelic doctor.
Side effects may include peace, joy and eternal life.
If you have read all (or any) of the documents of the Synod, please tell us what your faith and reason objects to.
Or maybe it is this particular Eucharistic synod of San Diego?
Synovitis could mean just that you think there are too many meetings which could be rooted in faith or reason or both but please explain.
If it just an arrogant remark because you don’t like something,, then please admit that.
I agree faith is lacking here and reason, too.
Inflammation of the synodal process means inflating its importance. Some have called for changes in the teachings of Christ. See the story linked below for just one example. But, maybe the Germans are just more honest than American “synodal encounter groups.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253846/germany-synodal-way-womens-ordination-transgender-ideology
Read the vague, ambiguous synodal way statements from American Church leaders. Pope Benedict warned us of studied ambiguity.
Does Dr. Carmona think Church teachings should change? If so, which ones? He speaks of dialogue, so why isn’t there honest conversation about what changes are being proposed?
And, why do those changes almost always have to do with sex (LGBTQ+ issues, women’s ordination, artificial contraception, abortion, etc.)?
Meetings rooted in the Faith don’t depart from its teachings, including moral ones. Meetings rooted in reason involve open, honest discussion, including natural law. Those are the antidotes for the inflammation of this synodal process. In time, we’ll both know if my diagnosis is accurate.
Dr. Johnson, things can be confusing. You understand that the German Synodal Path is not the synod on synodality, right.
Maybe we should stop calling it by its nickname.
It’s real name is the XVI General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of the Bishops
It’s topic is “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission”
Hence the nickname.
The diocese of San Diego has been holding its own “synods” with delegates from its parishes. The earliest one I found mention of online was on the Family in 2016.
These mediocre intellects believe that they are profound when they say things like, “A beautiful and challenging aspect of the synodal journey is that it reframes our thinking.” The church libs are jumping on the synod bandwagon the same way the secular libs jumped on the gay bandwagon. They think they’re better than everyone else. They’re not. They’re inferior. But they’ll keep talking and yammering and yapping and blathering to each other as mutual backrubs to convince themselves that they’re the saviors of NewChurch (TM).
Got attitude?
He’s telling the truth about the vapidness of the current church leadership in San Diego. We should be exposing them and mocking them every chance we get.
does “blather” get u 2 heaven???
No, but it might get you promoted at a chancery or some Catholic institutions.
Another private, but still Catholic associated, college in California “strives to be a leader in innovative experiential learning committed to inclusivity and collaboration and dedicated to a more just and equitable world for everyone.”
Anyone know of any colleges dedicated to a less just world?
“Get the sucker Catholics to think we’re still Catholic and they’ll pay big bucks to send their children and grandchildren here. And, we produce the likes of Gavin Newsom, Jerry Brown, Fidel Castro, Hans Kung, Voltaire and Nancy Pelosi.”
A forum for frustrated thespians.
I hope tropical storm Hilary wallops San Diego.
What’ the over/under for homes on the cliffs that will fall into the ocean due to cliffside erosion in this storm? 8? A whole year’s worth of rain or more is going to pound Southern California in just 24 hours. The land can’t take that.
Praying for you all.
Dare anyone say possible judgment upon our once-Golden State?
Cardinal McElroy is in serious need of our prayers.
His heretical views are compromising the faith of his people. He has basically ignored the true responses from our parish synod sessions and twisted them to make it seem the majority want blessing of gay marriages, women Deacons, and communion for all regardless if they are living in a state of sin. He was complicit in shutting down our churches during the pandemic and kept the Eucharist and other sacraments from us.
Cardinal McElroy claims the synod process is “a new way of being Church”. Jesus already determined that the church be based on scripture, tradition and the magisterium. He is the only bishop I know of who was unhappy with the first synod results in his Diocese so did a follow-up online survey that took the parish coordinators and pastors out of he picture. He is still unhappy with the survey results so is now requiring all the parishes in his Diocese to repeat the synod process this October. That is not following the Vatican’s plan. This time he has chosen to focus on Eucharistic Community. That’s his way of trying to drum up interest in welcoming all, regardless of their state of sin, (such as divorced or gay couples) to receive the Eucharist.
If Cardinal McElroy does not like the true teachings of the Church he should step down from his position and stop promoting heresy. Persisting in requiring parishes to continue the synod process is quite costly and time consuming for parish staff.
It’s time to weed out the disrupters and provide good and true catechesis with reverent liturgies and frequent access to the sacraments.
St Michael the archangel defend us in battle.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, triumph and reign.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.