Why is Synod 16 important?

There is a need to elevate the presence and importance of Christ in individuals, families, parishes, schools and Catholic institutions to receive the good news, to live it, and to share it with our friends, our families, in our workplaces and beyond.

The natural state of the Church is one of growth. We are living in a time of unnatural deterioration of the Church. The decline in sacramental participation and vocations as well as the closing of parishes are unnatural aberrations rooted in an erosion of evangelization. We need to undo some of what we've become as a people of Christ—passive in prioritizing and living our faith, sad about the perceived decline of the importance of Jesus and Church institutions, and accustomed to a malaise rooted in believing there is little that can be done.

Just as we are seeing revitalization in our city, we seek to bring about rebirth of the Church in Detroit.