Pastor's Page

5/8/2022

Dear Friends in Christ,
I write to thank and commend the many people whose labors, openness, prayerful participation, and goodwill helped us here at OLG to do our part in joining the Worldwide Synod called and urged by Pope Francis. As you know, this “synod” was an effort to engage all Catholics (though non-Catholics were welcomed as well) in a broad and inclusive process of prayerfully listening to and discerning the call of the Holy Spirit. This synod, the most recent of the many synods that have occurred at various times and in different places throughout the Church’s nearly two-thousand-year-old history, is the first worldwide synod. It has involved the participation of Catholics of all categories and sorts—laity, clergy, religious, from every race, nation, tribe, and tongue—whether active or inactive. While the parish phase of the synod has concluded, the summary reports sent by each parish—including OLG— are present in the hands of the Archdiocesan Synod representatives. They are reading and studying them with a view to submitting a synod report for the Catholic Church of Western Washington to Archbishop Etienne. He will submit our archdiocesan report to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The diocesan synod reports will then be summarized by the USCCB, along with other national bishops’ conferences from around the world. A summary report will be sent to the Pope and the Vatican representatives charged with assisting him with producing the final synod report. This will be discussed and debated by the Catholic Bishops at the Worldwide Synod of Bishops happening in October 2023. Please join me in offering gratitude to our OLG Synod Co-Coordinators, Cindy Tewes and Nicole Monroe, who, together with Helen Oesterle and Michelle Scheving, handled the organizational aspects necessary to get the synod process up and going, and who did the orientation and training of the 15 individuals who served as smallgroup facilitators for the synod. As a result, we were able to offer 20 listening sessions, both in-person and by zoom, that drew in almost 200 participants. In addition, a number of people—though we don’t know exactly how many—participated via the synod survey put out by the Archdiocese of Seattle. A big thank you to all who contributed in any way. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide and inspire us as the synod process moves forward, and that it will bear fruit to the glory of God and the good of all his children.

Easter blessings to all, 

Fr. Kevin