The purpose of the 2023 Synod is to:
- Inspire God’s people to dream about the Church we are called to be
- Make people’s hopes flourish
- Stimulate trust
- Bind up wounds
- Weave new and deeper relationships
- Learn from one another
- Build bridges
- Enlighten minds
- Warm hearts
- Restore strength to our hands for our common mission
With this detailed purpose in mind, our period of preparation will be focused on discerning and on listening.
To this end, Bishop Barber has established a Synod Preparation core team and appointed Father Jimmy Macalinao as the diocesan point of contact for the 2023 Synod preparation. Upon his appointment, Father Macalinao said the Diocese of Oakland has been, and is, experiencing synodality already. “There are many processes, especially in recent years, which we could offer as examples of synodality in our diocese,” he said,” but the one which is truly diocesan-wide is our Mission Alignment Process, or MAP.” The Disciple Makers survey that we are all asked to complete by November 22nd is part of MAP and is intended to allow all Catholics to have input on the future of the Church in the diocese.