Bishop James Wall of the Diocese of Gallup has summed up the information his diocese has so far collected during the Synod on Synodality and discussed the significance of the program.

"We held a Synod Saturday in the Diocese of Gallup, inviting parishioners to gather at designated parishes to reflect on questions that were modified to best suit the faithful of the diocese,” Wall told the Arizona Catholic - Tribune. “The first step was to pray, discern and listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.” 

In 2020, Pope Francis announced the “Synod on Synodality” to take place over two years, 2022 and 2023.

America Magazine explained that a synod “is a meeting or assembly of church leaders.” Synods are a religious tradition that exist in most faiths. One popular example is Vatican II, when the bishops come together to discuss important issues. “Synodality” refers to the way the Church makes decisions during a synod. After the synod is concluded, the bishops draft a document that the pope uses in the future. 

“Although we had hoped to have a larger participation of the faithful, we were happy to see people gather in order to participate in the life of the local Church,” Wall said. “The diocese consists mostly of rural areas spanning 55,000 sq miles, with large distances between parishes and missions, so it was a challenge to coordinate the synodal activity. I think it is important that the faithful of the Diocese of Gallup were able to contribute their voice to the voice of the Catholic Church in the United States.”

The Synod on Synodality takes on four phases, the Synod’s website said. They are as follows: 1) The Diocesen Phase; 2) The Episcopal Conference/Synods of Oriental Churches Phase; 3) The Continental Phase; and 4) The Universal Phase. The Church has completed Phase 1) The Diocesen Phase, in which dioceses around the world convened by Catholics meeting at their parishes and discussing certain issues pertaining to the Catholic Church and the world. The Synod is now moving on to Phase 2.

The website noted that the aim of the Synod “is not to provide a temporary or one-time experience of synodality, but rather to provide an opportunity for the entire People of God to discern together how to move forward on the path towards being a more synodal Church in the long-term.” The three themes are participation, communion and mission. 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) reported a National Synthesis document that recorded all the happenings of Phase 1. The National Synthesis noted that there are 66.8 million Catholics in the United States. Approximately 700,000 Catholics participated in Phase 1, producing 22,000 reports compiled by the USCCB. 

The Adsumus Sancte Spiritus Prayer is traditionally prayed before every synod, and it is posted on the Vatican’s synod website. It means, “We stand before You, Holy Spirit.” 

Crux reported that Wall turned to the Native American population in the Diocese of Gallup to help run the synodal process. 

“We’re a diocese with very few and limited resources, so rather than hoisting this on one person’s shoulders I thought it would be a little more doable if we were to ask the [Sisters of Our Lady of Guadalupe] religious community,” Wall said in the Crux report. “Plus, they’re awesome and everybody loves them and they’re perfectly bilingual in English and Spanish.” 

Wall dedicated the synodal process to the Holy Family and the Virgin Mary.