BALTIMORE – In Separate addresses to the American bishops, Cardinal Christophe Pierre and Archbishop Timothy Broglio spoke on two major Church events of the past year – the Synod of Bishops on Synodality and the National Eucharistic Revival – and the need to keep each alive.
Both also mentioned the presidential election, but not president-elect Donald Trump specifically.
Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, connected the synod and Eucharistic revival, as well as the upcoming Jubilee of 2025, to Pope Francis’s recent encyclical, Dilexit nos (He Loved Us) on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in which the Holy Father underlines the social dimension of Christ’s love and caring for others as an extension of a personal, intimate relationship with God.
“Eucharistic revival, a more synodal form of evangelization, a jubilee year of hope – all of these experiences will produce fruit, provided that we return to the heart of Christ, that sacred place where human longing and divine love are united,” Pierre told the American bishops.
On the Eucharistic revival, Pierre reminded the American bishops that it can only occur if the Eucharist is lived out in multiple dimensions: “not only gathering to adore, but also by going out on mission so that Christ can encounter others.”
“Along these lines, on the Sacred Heart reminds us that there are two essential aspects that contemporary devotion needs to combine: first, personal spiritual experience; second, communal missionary commitment,” Pierre explained.
On the synod, Pierre noted that it’s always been about inviting more participation in the Church’s missionary discernment. Therefore, he said, success of the synod isn’t based on which decisions have been made or whose vision for the Church prevailed, but instead on the amount of people who participate at various levels of the Church, the amount of shared discernment, and how listening is prioritized.
Pierre said that opening their hearts to Christ will in turn allow them to better open their hearts to others.
“And so, for those who feel disappointed about the Church’s synodal process to this point – either for what it has been or for what it hasn’t been – I would share the encouragement that I think Pope Francis is offering us through this encyclical,” he said. “Essentially, the Pope is saying to us: Look deeper for what synodality is about. Look to heart: your own heart, the heart of Christ, and the heart of the other person. From there, we can embark on a shared mission as Church.”
Pierre spoke last about the Jubilee, highlighting that it’s something the world and the United States needs given the fragmentation that exists in society, especially during election season. He said Pope Francis’s encyclical is a reminder that the heart is capable of “uniting the fragments.”
“By returning to the heart, we can address the ways in which we ourselves have become, if not incapable, then at least ‘handicapped,’ in our way of relating to certain others due to fragmentation,” Pierre said.
Pierre’s address was one of the early items on the agenda for the first public session of the bishops’ annual fall gathering in Baltimore, which took place on Nov. 12. The gathering runs from Nov. 11-14, with public sessions on Nov. 12 and 13.
Broglio, who is president of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference, and archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, gave his address immediately after Pierre. He called last summer’s National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis a “high point” of the Eucharistic revival that now moves into a mission phase.
“We continue the mission to proclaim our faith in the Eucharist, to help the faithful discover or deepen its meaning, and to prolong the positive effects of the first two years of the Eucharistic revival,” he said.
On the synod, Broglio noted that the American Church is already very synodal in many of its structures with the existence of structures like parish councils, parish and diocesan finance councils, and presbyteral councils. However, he said there is still “substantial” work before them to implement the synod.
“As stated last year, that is not to say that we do not have substantial work before us,” Broglio said of the synodal structures in the United States. “It is not easy to listen and to set aside the campaign positions that sometimes colored the approaches of certain participants. There is still an occasional sentiment that if I do not get what I want, the Church is not being synodal.”
“We have to grow in our understanding and in our ability to listen to the Holy Spirit,” he said.
