September 16, 2025 // Bishop

‘The Focus is Mission’: Bishop Convokes Synod at St. Matthew Cathedral

Kasia Balsbaugh

The first synod in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend in 100 years has officially begun.

On Sunday, September 14, parishes throughout the diocese watched a video of Bishop Rhoades announcing and explaining the upcoming diocesan synod. In that video, he also extended an invitation to join him at the official convocation of the synod that evening at a celebration of vespers at St. Matthew Cathedral in South Bend.

During his homily at the evening prayer service, Bishop Rhoades briefly outlined the history of Catholicism in the diocese, beginning with French missionaries bringing the Gospel to the native peoples – the Potawatomi in the north, the Miami in the south – in the 1600s. Catholicism really took root in the area, Bishop Rhoades said, in the 1800s, a century that saw the founding of the University of Notre Dame near present-day South Bend and the construction of the first Catholic church in Fort Wayne.

“The Church in our diocese has grown and continues to grow,” Bishop Rhoades said.

The overarching theme of this synod is “Spreading the Fire of God’s Love,” and the synod’s symbol is a dove with wings of red flames, representing the Holy Spirit descending during Pentecost.

“The Holy Spirit continues to empower us today to proclaim Christ crucified and spread the fire of God’s love,” Bishop Rhoades said at St. Matthew. “The goal of the synod will be to strengthen the vibrancy of the Church in our diocese and to ensure that our parishes, schools, and other communities of faith are truly mission-oriented communities of faith, hope, and charity. The focus is mission – the mission that began at Pentecost, the mission the French missionaries extended in the region of our diocese centuries ago.”

The day of the announcement – the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross – was not accidental. As Bishop Rhoades said, the theme – again, “Spreading the Fire of God’s Love” – dovetails with the feast of the cross.

“The holy cross of Jesus is the ultimate demonstration of [God’s] love,” Bishop Rhoades said. “So, on this day, when the Church exalts that cross, I am announcing the diocesan synod.”

Having begun on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at St. Matthew Cathedral in South Bend, the synod will conclude on the solemnity of Christ the King in 2026 in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne.

“It seems appropriate that we begin with Christ’s victory on the cross and we end with the celebration of Christ’s kingship,” Bishop Rhoades said. “Our Lord reigns as king from the wood of the cross. He reigns in glory at the right hand of the Father and dwells on earth in His body, the Church. His kingdom is present in mystery on earth, but it is yet to be fulfilled. The Church’s mission – our mission – is to extend His reign, to spread the Kingdom of Christ by spreading the fire of God’s love in this time and place.”

One of the many attendees at Vespers was Hope Ponce, who along with her husband and kids is a parishioner at Christ the King Parish in South Bend. Ponce and her family were previously Protestant and entered the Catholic Church in 2024. Ponce said she came to vespers because she felt “called” to come, touting the importance of praying as a community.

“We were brought to the Catholic Church through prayer, really, so we know how powerful it is,” Ponce said. She said she “absolutely” plans to attend more of the synod events.

The moderator for the synod is Stacey Noem, who is the director of human and spiritual formation for the Master of Divinity program at the University of Notre Dame. She spoke to Today’s Catholic about what the average parishioner in the diocese can expect from the synod.

“Now that the synod is officially announced, we get to enter into most actively praying together for our diocese in the days and weeks and months and year ahead, and for the opportunity for the Spirit to come into our lives and inform our conversations,” Noem said.

Noem added: “It’s an extended period of prayer for reflection personally, and then hopefully with these punctuated moments of consultations, where we get to come together for conversations in the Spirit in our parish communities, and then have folks from our communities get together to have a large gathering and conversation in November of 2026.”

The full synod will convene in 2026, with delegates including at least one layperson from each parish in the diocese, among other priests and religious appointed by Bishop Rhoades. However, liturgical events for the synod – such as Masses, liturgy of the hours, and other communal prayer – will be open to everyone in the diocese. There is also a synod prayer that Noem plans to pray daily, and which she hopes other members of the diocese will join in praying regularly for the fruitfulness of the synod.

“It’s an exciting time,” Noem said.

To learn more about Synod 2026, visit diocesefwsb.org/synod.

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.