Listening sessions reveal laity is eager to share in mission of the Church

Parishioners participate in an Aug. 27 listening session at Mount Saint Francis Center for Spirituality in Mt. St. Francis. (Submitted photo by Paul Schellenberger)

By Deacon Thomas Hosty (Special to The Criterion)

In August, the archdiocese conducted listening sessions to hear from the laity about its understanding of their role in the Church. Those who participated expressed a solid understanding of their baptismal identity, understanding they are called by Christ to help form other disciples of Christ. They further showed an eagerness to share in the co-responsibility in the life and mission of the Church.

The listening sessions, held on Aug. 12 at Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish in Greenwood and on Aug. 27 at Mount Saint Francis Center for Spirituality in Mt. St. Francis, were the result of a request in April by Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minn., who leads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth.

He asked Archbishop Charles C. Thompson, as well as other bishops in the U.S., to conduct the sessions within their dioceses so that the Church could discover how the people of God understand the baptismal identity and co-responsibility of the laity within the life and mission of the Church.

Bishop Barron’s committee hoped that by conducting these diocesan listening sessions, not only with the laity but also with other Church leaders, that they could better learn what needs to be addressed in a new U.S. bishops’ pastoral document on the role of the laity.

With that in mind, listening sessions with the laity were conducted in the northern and southern portions of the archdiocese. There were also listening sessions with members of the clergy, religious, leaders involved in the formation of the laity and leaders of lay movements. The archdiocese also sought to be inclusive of the many cultures present in the local Church.

Some of the most important takeaways from these listening sessions include:

• The laity understood by virtue of their baptism that they share in the co-responsibility in the life and mission of the Church, and they are eager to do so with guidance by the Holy Spirit.
• The laity understand formation is key and must be ongoing.
• Inviting the laity into formation and providing busy families flexible opportunities for formation are important.
• The laity and the clergy understand that priests cannot carry out all the work of the Church, including the formation of the laity, and thus the laity must step up to share a greater role in both the mission of the Church and the formation of the laity.
• Both the clergy and leaders who conduct formation agree laity formation can always be improved.
• There may also be opportunities for lay movements to grow stronger bonds with the Church overall, which would positively impact their ministry work.

In October, the results from the archdiocesan listening sessions were submitted to Archbishop Thompson and Bishop Barron’s committee.
 

(Should anyone have any questions, those can be submitted to Deacon Thomas Hosty, director of the archdiocesan Department of Pastoral Ministries, at thosty@archindy.org.) †