The Goal of the Diocesan Synod of Young Adults flowed from Year One of our 7-year Diocesan Pastoral Plan, TILMA, and had a three-fold purpose:
First:
To foster a culture of evangelization that will engage young adults on relevant issues, and then work with them to engage others in the years ahead;
Second:
To respond in a practical and impactful way to two of the ten “hopes” that Pope Francis articulated for theJubilee Year of 2025, namely:
- Hope for Openness to Life and Responsible Parenthood
- Hope for Youth and Young Adults
Third:
To begin a more deliberative process of evangelization in parishes – starting with young people, including those who have left the Church and those who might consider themselves “on the margins” or “nones.”
On April 12th 2025, Bishop John Dolan convoked The Diocesan Synod of Young Adults as a central initiative of TILMA, his seven-year Diocesan pastoral plan for evangelization through the year 2031, inspired by Our Lady of Guadalupe and inaugurated during the Church’s Jubilee Year of Hope. Rooted in Pope Francis’ call to be “pilgrims of hope,” the Synod sought to listen attentively to young adults and discern how the Church can more effectively accompany them in matters of faith, vocation, marriage, family life, and mission — and how they, as young adults, can participate in their mission of evangelization.
From August to November of 2025, the Diocesan Synod Preparatory Commission scheduled 80 Synodal Listening Sessions in parishes, Newman Centers and other locations across the Diocese. Nearly 1,000 young adults allowed their voices to be heard — giving their input in listening sessions using the “Conversations in the Spirit” model, as well as through an online survey in the final weeks of November. Over 230 pages of qualitative data were collected in this effort. In early December, the Synod Commission met for two days to prayerfully review and synthesize the raw data, ensuring fidelity to the voices of participants. Artificial Intelligence was also employed by the Commission to help collate the data, so as to avoid any personal biases. The Report for the 2025 Synod of Young Adults is the result of this multi-stage process.
On February 14th 2026, more than 100 people came together in a Synod Assembly to review the Report and recommend pastoral actions to implement the findings of the listening sessions. The following day, during the 9:00AM Mass at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral, Bishop John entrusted copies of the Report — along with the input and recommendations of the Synod Assembly — to the Chairpersons of the Diocesan Pastoral Council and the Presbyteral Council (Priests’ Council). The two Councils are discerning an action plan based on all that they have received from the Synod.
As the first step of the Councils’ discernment, the recommendations of the Synod Assembly have been shared with a cross-section of young adults, who are being asked to organize the recommendations in order of priorityno later than September 15th 2026.
Once the young adults have prioritized the recommendations in order of what they consider most urgent, the selected priorities will be given to Bishop John and Diocesan leadership to determine an implementation strategy and timeline for the action plan.
We thank everyone who gave of their time, their hearts and their prayer through planning and participating in the listening sessions, survey, and feedback on the Report — and we look forward to sharing the action plan and timeline to be developed to shape ministry with young adults in our Diocese.