Pope Francis wants to know what is happening in local parishes. According to Phil LoCascio, a deacon at the Church of the Ascension, Pope Francis and the bishops would like to know what current members think churches should be doing to help make parishes better through a synodal process.

“Synod means ‘journeying together’ and it involves listening to the Holy Spirit and to each other in order to discern the path we are called to walk together,” LoCascio said.

According to the Synod Handbook, the synod “is intended to inspire people to dream about the Church we are called to be, to make people's hopes flourish, to stimulate trust, to bind up wounds, to weave new and deeper relationships, to learn from one another, to build bridges, to enlighten minds, warm hearts, and restore strength to our hands for our common mission.”

According to LoCascio, Church of the Ascension sent out questionnaires to all parishioners and had a gathering of people on Saturday, April 9, to discuss and reflect on how the church is doing as a community of believers, what the Holy Spirit is saying to them, who feels they are not being heard and how the church can journey together going forward. LoCascio said the focus is on Catholic churches around the world, but also on the local parish in Fountain Hills.

“We will continue to meet and work together to implement some of the ideas brought forth,” LoCascio said.

The parish response will be sent to Bishop Olmstead and the Diocese of Phoenix, who will collect responses from all 117 parishes and missions in the Diocese of Phoenix. Those responses will be sent to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C. who will collect responses from all the dioceses throughout the country and then forward them to the Vatican in Rome. This process is being followed by every country in the world.

“The hope is that the spirit works through the people to affect the larger Church, but also that this Synod experience helps the parish lay person understand better their role as a disciple of Christ,” LoCascio said.

For more information call Deacon Phil LoCascio at 480-837-1066.