Canadian bishops hear presentations on synodality progress

Canadian bishops heard presentations on the progress of synodality during their annual plenary meeting in Montreal from Sept. 21 to 25. The meeting included updates on how different regions are implementing the concept of a listening Church.

During a keynote on Sept. 22, Lizardo Estrada Herrera, Coadjutor Archbishop of Cusco and secretary general of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM), traced the region's synodal development back to the founding of CELAM in 1955. In contrast, Alain Faubert, bishop of Quebec, provided a brief update on the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Implementation of Synodality in the Church in Canada, which has been active since 2021.

Archbishop Donald J. Bolen of Regina and Bishop Faubert noted that while synodality grew organically from existing Church culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, the process in Canada has felt more like an external instruction from the Vatican.