Letter from Cardinal Mahony Concluding the Synod
September 4, 2003
Solemnity of Our Lady of the Angels
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On Holy Thursday of the great Jubilee Year 2000, the priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, together with their Archbishop, published a Pastoral Letter on Ministry, As I Have Done for You, which expresses our hope for greater collaboration and mutuality in the exercise of ministry in the Church. At the close of the letter, I convoked a Synod, calling upon the whole People of God to join with me in a process of prayer, dialogue, discernment, and decision for the purpose of finding more fruitful ways to live in the communion of the Holy Spirit, responding to the needs of the people in the Archdiocese.
In the many months since April 2000, the whole People of God— laity, clergy, and religious—have given themselves untiringly to the formulation of Pastoral Initiatives, Priorities, and Strategies to help us realize the vision of the Church expressed in As I Have Done for You. This vision is fully enlivened by the orientations of the Second Vatican Council, and given specific direction in the pastoral program delineated by our Holy Father Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (“At the Beginning of the New Millennium”).
The Synod has provided many occasions for listening with the ear of the heart to the many concerns expressed throughout the Archdiocese. Some of these cannot be resolved at the level of the Local Church. But in the same spirit of open and respectful dialogue that has characterized our Synod I shall bring to the attention of those who have authority in these matters, those important concerns that are outside the competence of a Synod.
It is clear that the Holy Spirit has enlivened and enlightened the hearts of the people of the Archdiocese in shaping the direction we will take over the next ten years and more. We will continue to rely on the Spirit of Christ as we move forward now with the implementation of our Pastoral Initiatives, Priorities, and Strategies. May the Spirit guide us in being and becoming more authentic heralds of the Gospel in our own lives and, through our communal witness to the Reign of God, a more effective sign of reconciliation and peace to the world.
It is our sincere hope that the spirit of these Synod Documents, expressed in the words Gathered and Sent, will seize and saturate the hearts of all who read them, both in the Church of Los Angeles and beyond.
Together with all the people of the Archdiocese under the protection of Our Lady of the Angels, I entrust to her care all we have done and shall continue to do through the Synod toward the fullness of life in Christ.
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
His Eminence
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony
Archbishop of Los Angeles
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