The “National Synthesis” on the Synod, by Francis X. Maier

I was traveling on September 19, and was delayed in reading the National Synthesis prepared by U.S. bishops in advance of Rome’s 2023 Synod on Synodality. That didn’t stop my email from filling up with comments throughout the day.  Among them:  “The conference is living in a fantasy,” the report’s “sycophancy is scandalous,” the text is “beyond ridiculous,” “everyone associated with it should be embarrassed,” and “I recognize almost nothing of my experience of the Church in it.”  A friend described it as “a compilation of shallow complaints.  There’s no experience in the text of the mystery of God’s grace and love.  It’s not the ‘Church’ that faithful Catholics participate in daily. . . .Bishop [John] Stowe could have written it himself without any help or consultation.” …