Local synod team awaits guidance

By DAWN PROSSER
Director of Communications
 
Synod: a long and promising journey is the theme of this week’s meetings in Rome for the heads of the continental bodies of the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the General Secretariat of the Synod addressed the participants Tuesday, the opening day of the meetings.

“…the ultimate purpose of this synodal conversion is not merely to improve internal processes or to make our structures more participatory,” he was quoted in a June 24 synod bulletin from the office of the secretariat. “If synodality does not lead to a renewed missionary outreach, it does not set hearts a blaze and move people to action, if it does not give rise to communities that proclaim Christ with joy and parrhesia, then it risks remaining incomplete.”
The participants were involved in plenary sessions, working groups and dialogue with Pope Leo XIV on Thursday.

The continental leaders’ gathering wraps up today, however, parishioners in the Diocese of Sioux City probably won’t be involved until early 2027.

Deacon Mark Prosser, Bishop John E. Keehner’s chief of staff and director of diocesan synod efforts said synod directors were briefed following the recent USCCB meeting regarding the next steps.

“We’ve learned that directives, guidance and outlines should be coming out to the diocese by the end of August to give direction to what we believe will be another round of diocesan synod listening sessions scheduled to occur between January and June of 2027,” he explained.
USCCB notification
Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City and president of the USCCB sent a letter to the U.S. bishops in January 2026 advising that the synod process would return to dioceses with teams to be set and results of the earlier synod reviewed.

Bishop Keehner then constructed a new synod team including some members who had served in the past.

“We haven’t had a lot of work for them to do as of yet because we’ve kind of been in holding where we continue to be. I anticipate the group will be convening and giving guidance to the bishop once we receive our marching orders,” the deacon said. “As far as expectations from both the USCCB and Rome, that’s still very much up in the air.”

Synod team members include:

• Bishop John E. Keehner
• Deacon Mark Prosser
• Father Andrew Galles, director of worship
• Karmen Bower, director of faith formation
• Father Patrick Behm, pastor of St. John Paul II Parish in Carroll
• Dawn Prosser, director of communications
• Mayra Castelan, director of operations of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Sioux Center
• Sandra Hildreth, director of religious education for Our Lady of the Plains Parish in Lake City

History
In October 2021, Pope Francis opened the synodal process and the diocesan synod phase began. Parish and regional listening sessions were held and input was gathered. All data and input were synthesized by the Communications Office into a 10 page document, released in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

On April 1, 2022, then-Bishop Walker Nickless celebrated a Mass in Storm Lake to mark the conclusion of that phase of the synod and findings were shared with the faithful following the Mass.

The diocese was then asked to hold listening sessions during Lent 2024. The Vatican’s final report was released on solemnity of Christ the King November 2024.
A comprehensive collection of diocesan, national, continental and Vatican reports are posted at www.scdiocese.org/synod.

Cover photo from this week's General Secretariat for the Synod bulletin.

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