This month’s Synod on Synodality in Rome, an event of great significance and consequence for Catholics worldwide, will be experienced by Benedictine University students participating in “We are the Now of the Church: A Conversation in the Spirit with U.S. College Students.”

The October 25 national event sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, and the Catholic Campus Ministers Association, will be hosted locally by Loyola University of Chicago’s Hank Center for Catholic Intellectual Heritage. Currently 15 campuses are participating with more likely to join.

Via Zoom, and under the direction of Carrie Ankeny, Benedictine’s Director of Campus Ministry, our Benedictine students will join hundreds of students nationwide in a spirit-filled session about what becoming a Church of encounter, listening and discernment means for them. The two-hour session will include prayer, student testimonies, guided “conversation in the Spirit” among students and bishops, and invitations to take next steps together at the regional level across the U.S.

Participating in the synodal process is sure to be a great gift and experience. In brief, the Synod on Synodality will bring bishops together from around the world to discuss specific issues to better guide the church. Young people are the focus of this year’s synod called Synod on Communion, Participation, and Mission, and Pope Francis selected two college students from the U.S. to be among the 363 voting delegates in the synod’s General Assembly of Bishops. This is a first in church history…yet another wonderful reason for our Benedictine University students to be involved.

Stay tuned for what we know will be an extraordinary and revelatory summary of the event after October 25.