“The synod is not over. It's only just beginning": Alain Faubert, Bishop of Valleyfield

 

“The synod is not over. It’s only just beginning.” 

That’s what Alain Faubert, Bishop of Valleyfield, Quebec, said about the recent month-long assembly in Rome in October that concluded the three-year Synod on Synodality process. 

The goal of that assembly, the second gathering to bring together clergy and lay people—the first was in 2023—was to “plant seeds,” said Faubert. “Now we have to do something with them to help them grow.” 

Faubert will play an important role in seeing that happen. In late October he was elected to the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod to work with other Council members to promote the implementation of the synod’s recommendations. He will also help prepare for the next synodal assembly. 

“I am very honored to have been elected,” he said of being chosen at the end of the last synodal assembly. “I want to contribute to the growth of an increasingly synodal Church.” 

Faubert comes to the task fresh from being one of the delegates from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops to the Synod on Synodality, spending all of October in Rome at the assembly that produced a 52-page document of recommendations for the global Catholic Church. 

Thinking about the synod, Faubert said “I truly think something new was born there. What it will be isn’t truly known yet.” 

One thing he is sure of is that clericalism—the idea that clergy are somehow more special and privileged in the Church than the lay people they serve—“took a blow” due to the presence and participation of lay delegates, including women, at the assembly. 

God did not give priests “all the gifts and talents” in the Church, Faubert said, suggesting the process of synodality implies a change in the way Catholics see the priesthood. 

“Everyone has a place in the orchestra,” he said. “Everyone is important.” 

It’s not only priests who need to change their view of the clergy, he went on to say; lay Catholics also need to see them differently. 

“They may have been nurtured in the past to defer to priests,” but that has to change, Faubert said, adding that doesn’t negate the calling of some to the priesthood. But being a synodal church means everyone is called to ministry of some kind, he added. 

Through the synod, a signal was sent “for a more fraternal, inclusive and listening church going forward,” he said, adding the process will take time. 

“We are learning how to be synodal,” Faubert said. “Or, should I say we are re-learning how to be that kind of Church, to rediscovering our synodal DNA as Catholics.” 

He thinks the idea of synodality is already getting traction in Canada, more-so than in the U.S. “Here in Quebec, we are really into it,” he said, adding Canadians who were delegates to the assembly in Rome “are looking forward to the fruit it can bring in Canada.” 

Click here to read about the recommendations from the final synodal assembly. 

For that to happen, it will require the involvement of the national Church, the dioceses and the parishes, Faubert said—“the Church at all levels.” 

For him it’s not just about Catholics listening to each other, but also listening “to an aching world.” 

And it’s also not about numbers, looking at how many people go to services. “It’s about creating a better world for everyone,” he said, adding that it can be easy to be preoccupied about structures and roles. “That prevents us from being the church,” Faubert said, noting that includes not being focused on saving buildings. 

“It’s about listening to our neighbours and being focused on the core of the Gospel,” he said. 

Faubert doesn’t expect changes to happen overnight, and it won’t change “by decree.” Change will come through learning and practice, he said, starting with the bishops “buying in” to the need for changes. 

As far as he’s concerned, when it comes to the changes brought about by the synod “there’s no going back—the toothpaste is out of the tube,” he said. “It can’t be put back in.” 

One thing Faubert is convinced about is the seriousness of the need for a new way of being the Church in Canada and around the world. 

“I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but it’s do or die,” he said. 

Sidebar: When it comes to women in the Church, “we have been blind and deaf to their concerns” 

When it comes to topics like the role of women in the Church and making LGBTTQ+ people feel welcome, Faubert knows some Catholic women are frustrated—and he understands their frustration. 

“We have been blind and deaf to their concerns,” he said, adding the Church has “hurt people without meaning to hurt them.” 

He acknowledged that the topic is of interest to women all over the world, and that a “change of mindset” is needed. 

But he wonders how such a change can be implemented worldwide when Catholics see things differently over things like the role of women and welcoming LGBTTQ+ people. 

“Can we be different [on topics like this] and still be one Catholic Church?” he asked, suggesting that perhaps the goal should be “unity, not uniformity.” 

As for the working groups that are studying the issues of women’s ordination and welcoming LGBTTQ+ people—groups that are to report their findings to Pope Francis in 2025—Faubert hopes they will be sure to consult with women, “be bold” in their explorations and that their findings won’t get “buried” in The Vatican. 

“I hope their process will be synodal . . . and not death by consultation,” he said, adding the pope “was clear this was not a way of postponing [these discussions] until the end of time.”