Prayerful listening and idea sharing were highlights of the Archdiocesan Synod 2025: Be My Witnesses Assembly afternoon session, as members of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis sought to assist Archbishop Bernard Hebda in discerning the archdiocese’s trajectory in upcoming years.
In his 2022 pastoral letter, “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room,” the archbishop indicated that he viewed the Archdiocesan Synod 2025 as a way to continue discerning and listening to build unity and evangelization in the archdiocese.
Noting that the June 7 gathering was in the midst of the Jubilee Year and the archdiocese’s 175th anniversary, the archbishop spoke of sharing “the ways in which the Lord has blessed us” and being called “to be men and women of hope.”
“I spoke many times in the pastoral letter about hope,” the archbishop said to those gathered at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul during the afternoon session. Reciting a portion of his pastoral letter, he said: “The experience of being your shepherd these past years has deepened my confidence that Christ our king has wonderful plans in mind for us in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, plans to give us ‘a future of hope.'”
“I can tell you, brothers and sisters, that that sense has only been strengthened in the three years since” the 2022 Archdiocesan Synod Assembly and subsequent pastoral letter release, he said.
The day’s events drew roughly 450 people to the school. During the afternoon session, assembly members individually voted on the eight remaining propositions from the 12 that received the highest number of votes during the 2022 assembly and were included in the archbishop’s pastoral letter.
Discipleship in Daily Life, Adult Faith Formation and Welcome and Hospitality were among the propositions that rose to the top of discussion among assembly members during two large group sharing opportunities that followed prayerful small group discussions. In the 2022 assembly, Discipleship in Daily Life received the seventh-most votes, Adult Formation received the second-most votes, and Welcome and Hospitality received the sixth-most votes.
In the materials provided to assembly members, the Discipleship in Daily Life proposition was defined as: “Teach individuals and families the art of Christian living in the modern world to be a witness of the abundant life for which God created us.” The Adult Faith Formation proposition was defined as: “Create or strengthen an intentional formation plan at every parish to help adults and families in all stages of life to live and witness to the faith in our culture today.” The Welcome and Hospitality proposition was defined as: “Foster an intentional culture of welcoming and hospitality that seeks to encounter people where they are and open wide the doors to Christ for them.” Assembly members also discussed the importance of fostering vibrant youth and young adult communities in the local Church.
Efforts in the archdiocese will continue for four propositions that were among the top vote-getters in the 2022 assembly: sustaining small groups via the Parish Evangelization Cells System, education on the Mass and fostering active participation in it, and forming parents as the primary educators of the faith to their children.
During the two large group gatherings in the afternoon session, roughly 50 assembly members talked about the propositions that most touched their hearts as well as their ideas for implementing those propositions at the parish level. Archbishop Hebda listened and responded, as Auxiliary Bishops Michael Izen and Kevin Kenney sat listening nearby.
One assembly member, who said the Discipleship in Daily Life proposition moved his heart, said, “Everything that we do needs to have that Christocentricity, needs to have Jesus at the center.” Another who also mentioned this proposition, suggested an idea for implementation could be discerning ways to personalize prayer, fasting and almsgiving “within our own life, within our own structure. How do we encounter God in our daily circumstances?”
One assembly member, who said the Adult Faith Formation proposition moved her heart, said, “How can I be a disciple if I don’t know the faith?” Another who also mentioned this proposition, suggested an idea for implementation could be “large formation events with time to discuss” as well as “mentoring processes for adult formation.”
One assembly member, who said the proposition of Welcome and Hospitality touched her heart, said “this is the invitation of Jesus Christ; he gives the invitation first.” Another, who also referenced this proposition, suggested that members of the local Church can be Christ-like in the way hospitality is extended: “We are the face of God. … God uses me to talk to the people — uses my mouth, uses my ears, my eyes.” One assembly member who mentioned this proposition, suggested an idea for implementation could be to develop training “for the people in the pews” who are interested, “to reach out, and be invitational, beyond the church door.”
Many assembly members talked about ways the series of propositions are connected; one assembly member shared his appreciation for “the ways in which these propositions reinforce one another and different aspects of the issue of Christian life.”
In addressing the ideas shared, Archbishop Hebda said, “I always appreciate when you’re giving those best ideas, that’s always so helpful for me … they were very concrete, they were doable, that’s very helpful for me as your shepherd. And I think they will help us, just even hearing those things, as we try to chart a course for moving forward.”
During the Exhortation and Next Steps portion of the afternoon session, Archbishop Hebda said, “I once again have this deep sense that we have a God of surprises and that only the Lord knows what surprises he’s going to bring.” He added that “it’s a blessed time for us” to discern what is ahead for the archdiocese.
“As an archdiocese, we’ve been walking together in synodality for many years … that journey over these years does not end today, but in my opinion, needs to continue,” Archbishop Hebda said.
“We need to have a regular pattern of coming together as we did today,” said the archbishop, adding he would look to feedback from those gathered on holding regular Synods in the archdiocese, what the frequency of those Synods might be, and how to maintain continuity while also bringing new members of the archdiocese into the process.
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“How do we build upon your good work of witness and evangelization?” the archbishop said.
The archbishop expressed his gratitude for those gathered: “I’m so grateful that you’ve given so selflessly of yourselves in this time … I recognize the weeks and months of your time and prayer that you’ve invested and that’s such a great gift,” the archbishop said, adding that this gift has “been one of the greatest sources of hope for me” during the Jubilee Year.
Before his closing prayer, Archbishop Hebda encouraged those gathered to consider God’s continued call in their lives. “We know that through our baptism, we are always called to more. … It’s our Lord, Jesus Christ, who’s inviting you, who’s inviting me, who’s inviting us.”
“It’s the Lord who invites us to be the Church that he intends; he calls you by name, he has knit you together in your mother’s womb — we read about in Scripture — for times such as these. And only he, and perhaps you through prayerful cooperation, can know where it is that he’s inviting you next,” the archbishop said.
To close, the archbishop prayed, “Loving God, we thank you for the ways in which you’ve reminded us of the forceful presence of your Holy Spirit. We thank you for the respect that our brothers and sisters showed to one another in the course of this day. We thank you for helping us to hear you in their voices and in their needs. We ask you to bless all of us with a stronger sense of how it is that you’re calling us to move forward, how it is that we can be the Church that you desire us to be, building on these 175 years and preparing to pass on the faith to our younger generations. We ask that you might always keep us united to Mary, our mother, and to give us the evangelical zeal of St. Paul, our patron, and help us to relate with the joyful commitment of soon-to-be St. Carlo Acutis so that, in all things, we might be able to be that Church that you desire.”
After the morning and afternoon sessions June 7, assembly members traveled to the Cathedral for a 7 p.m. Pentecost Vigil Mass, followed by a prayer service.
The evening prior to the assembly, Archbishop Hebda, Bishop Izen and Bishop Kenney led a Holy Hour of Adoration at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Members of the Archdiocesan Synod 2025 and the faithful were invited to attend, to pray for the weekend’s events.
