Vicariate for Faith & Mission

For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission

Pope Francis and the Synod office in Rome are inviting the whole Church to become Synodal.

We are invited to journey together, listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the lives of the people we meet.

The whole ‘Synod’ is a four–year process which began in every diocese in October 2021 before moving on to a national then international listening exercise.

As we pray for this current synod, we remember that the move to being a synodal Church doesn’t end in 2024, the invitation is for lasting synodality in our communities.

Synod News

Synod Theme

“For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission”

To get involved and to join the journey we are inviting you to pray. To spend this time discerning what it is the Holy Spirit is saying in your life. We have a discernment guide here.

Discernment is very much about listening and we invite you to have an open heart and open ears as we enter into this process.

Over the coming months the questions and the themes will be unpacked and there will be opportunities for you to speak in your community about what is being revealed to you in pray.

To find out how your prayers, thoughts and dreams for the future of the Church can be fed into our diocesan process contact your local parish priest, your Parish/Partnership representative, your local Catholic school or email the Faith & Mission Team.

What is a Synod?

Click here to read an explanation.

Click here to watch a video explanation.

The Synod Prayer

Adsumus Sancte Spiritus

Every session of the Second Vatican Council began with the prayer ‘Adsumus Sancte Spiritus’, the first word of the original Latin, meaning, ‘We stand before You, Holy Spirit’, which has been historically used at Councils, Synods and other Church gatherings for hundreds of years, and is attributed to St. Isidore of Seville (c. 560 – 4 April 636). As we embrace this Synodal Process, this prayer invites the Holy Spirit to be at work in us so that we may be a community and a people of grace.

We stand before You, Holy Spirit,
as we gather together in Your name.
With You alone to guide us,
make Yourself at home in our hearts;
Teach us the way we must go
and how we are to pursue it.
We are weak and sinful;
do not let us promote disorder.
Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path
nor partiality influence our actions.
Let us find in You our unity
so that we may journey together to eternal life
and not stray from the way of truth
and what is right.
All this we ask of You,
who are at work in every place and time,
in the communion of the Father and the Son,
forever and ever.
Amen.

The Synod Prayer

Video Resource

Resources and Links

Synod Resources for Groups

Final Synod Reports

Synod Gallery

Contact Us

To contact a member of the Diocesan Synod team:

Email: synod@diocesehn.org.uk

Tel: 0191 243 3316 (office*) or Mob: 07375 934713.

*Your call may be automatically diverted to the mobile number.

Synod Correspondence Address:

Synod
Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle
St Vincent’s Diocesan Offices
St Cuthbert’s House,
West Road,
Newcastle upon Tyne NE15 7PY.