September 9, 2025 // Bishop

Synod 2026: Spreading the Fire of God’s Love

Scott Warden

Editor-In-Chief

Bishop Set to Open First Diocesan Synod in 100 Years

After spending consecutive Octobers in Rome serving as one of five delegates elected by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at the Synod of Bishops on synodality, few people in the world know the ins and outs of the synodal process as well as Bishop Rhoades.

In the two sessions of the worldwide synod – in the fall of 2023 and again last year – Bishop Rhoades saw firsthand the depth, prayerfulness, and fruits of the conversations Pope Francis called for on the mission of the Church.

Now, Bishop Rhoades is hoping to bring that sense of dialogue and mission to the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

Bishop Rhoades is inviting all the faithful of the diocese to attend the celebration of vespers in South Bend at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 14, at St. Matthew Cathedral, where he will officially open the diocese’s first synod in 100 years, entitled “Synod 2026: Spreading the Fire of God’s Love.” For those who are unable to attend the announcement at St. Matthew, the evening prayer service will be livestreamed on the diocese’s website at diocesefwsb.org/stream.

In a video message to parishes, Bishop Rhoades noted that during his time at the synod in Rome, “I experienced on a worldwide level how a synod works. It was a beautiful experience to prayerfully discern with delegates from around the world our ideas and hopes for the mission of the universal Church. … We prayed together as we reflected on the questions posed to us. … Now I am happy that we will be doing the same here in our diocesan Church.”

Bishop Rhoades continued: “It is important to keep in mind that synodality is not an end in itself; it is a means toward fulfilling the mission Jesus has entrusted to us. Our diocesan synod will be focused on mission. Guided by the Holy Spirit, we will reflect together on one central question: How is the Church in our diocese called to live the mission of Christ today and in the years to come? We will together seek to discern the Lord’s will for our diocese as we move forward as a community of His disciples to spread the fire of His love. … Our goal is to strengthen the vibrancy of the Church in our parishes, schools, and ministries so that each one becomes a mission-oriented community of faith, hope, and charity.”

Those participating in the conversations at synodal gatherings are called to focus on five themes chosen by Bishop Rhoades in consultation with his various advisory councils:

• Evangelization: Sharing the truth and joy of the Gospel.

• Catechesis: Forming disciples of all ages.

• Spiritual and Liturgical Life: Living in relationship with the Blessed Trinity.

• Vocations: Responding to God’s loving invitation.

• Outreach: Serving the poor, suffering, and vulnerable.

The official synod convocation at St. Matthew will mark the end of the synod’s preparatory phase and begin the parish phase, which will take place throughout the upcoming fall and winter at all parishes in the diocese. Following a period of personal prayer and discernment for all the faithful, this phase will culminate with parish-wide gatherings that will allow parishioners to share well-reflected thoughts about the state of the Church in our diocese.

Bishop Rhoades will select one parishioner from each parish – from a small slate of candidates nominated by the pastor – to serve as a delegate at the diocesan synod gatherings in November of 2026. The goal is to have a set of delegates that accurately reflects the demographics of the diocese (by age, race, gender, ethnicity, occupation, and educational background).

Along with parish consultations, other groups in the diocese will be offered a chance to have their voices heard regarding the mission of the Church in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, including members of the presbyterate, deacons and their wives, incarcerated people, those in nursing homes, people who are unhoused, college students, and those who are distant from the faith or have left the Church. Just as the faithful who have a parish home will have their voices heard, so, too, will these special groups.

Synod organizers hope to have the parish and special consultation phases wrapped up by the spring of 2026, leaving the summer of next year to be a time for compiling and synthesizing the reports from all of the synodal gatherings throughout the diocese and for the lay faithful and the synod delegates to prayerfully prepare for the diocesan-wide gathering in the fall of 2026. Those two synod sessions are scheduled to take place from October 31 to November 1 in South Bend and November 20-21 in Fort Wayne.

Bishop Rhoades will serve as president of the synod and will preside over all its proceedings. Stacey Noem, director of human and spiritual formation for lay students in the Master of Divinity program at the University of Notre Dame, will serve as the moderator of the synod.

Before he left for the second assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality in Rome last October, Today’s Catholic spoke with Bishop Rhoades about synodality and asked him what fruits of the synod he would like to see spread to the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

“I would say that the way the Church functions and operates in our diocese is already quite synodal,” Bishop Rhoades said. “Some other countries in the world, for example, there wouldn’t be as much synodality as we have here. There wouldn’t necessarily be strong consultative bodies like the Diocesan Pastoral Council, or the Presbyteral Council, or Parish Pastoral Councils, etc. So, we’re somewhat accustomed to these.”

Bishop Rhoades continued: “Now, we could do more. And it’s vital for the pastors – that includes me, but the pastors of parishes – to listen to our people and that we recognize the gifts of all the people and their views. … So, we still have ways that we can do this better. I think some parishes probably do it better than others. But it is important, because people can feel put off if they don’t feel like their baptismal dignity is being respected or that their ideas aren’t being listened to. … So, my hope is that this will just continue to grow in our diocese, that we make better use of, for example, parish pastoral councils or other ways to engage people in small groups or sometimes in larger groups, because there’s so many gifts and charisms that people have that could be used for the service of the Church, and we need to call those gifts and charisms forth.”

Scott Warden is editor-in-chief of Today’s Catholic.

Synod Announcement

Bishop Rhoades has invited all the faithful of the diocese to attend vespers and the synod convocation.

When: Sunday, September 14, at 5:30 p.m.

Where: St. Matthew Cathedral, South Bend

Livestream: diocesefwsb.org/stream

Prayer for Synod 2026

Blessed Trinity, source of our life and our unity, we ask for your presence with and within us
as we undertake this synodal journey.

Create in us and all those responsible for preparing the synod a discerning spirit. Help us to deepen our relationship with you and with one another over the months and weeks ahead. Grow in us the fire of your love, that we may eagerly respond to your loving invitation to spread the joy of the Gospel, and to serve the poor, suffering, and vulnerable. Form us to be better disciples, creating vibrant, mission-oriented communities of faith, hope, and charity.

We ask this through the intercession of our diocesan patrons, Mary, the Immaculate Conception, and St. Matthew. Amen.