In 2021, the Catholic Church began a synodal process – a journey that has the whole Church reflect on the theme: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission”.

The word “synod” indicates the path along which the People of God walk together. It means “journeying together” while simultaneously everyone has a role to play (Ephesians 4:7). Three verbs characterize this Synod: encounter, listen and discern. The Church is calling us to become experts in the art of encounter, to listen to the world and to the challenges and changes that it sets before us. We are asked to walk together under the guidance of the Word and in the strength of the Spirit, animated by the hope of seeing this world transfigured into the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of peace, justice and joy.

One of the Synod’s key words is communion, a word that Saint Paul VI defines as “cohesion and interior fullness, in grace, truth and collaboration…”. This definition speaks to us, Vincentians, who have chosen to be united and to work well together, to journey together. We know that when we come together in support of a common purpose amazing things happen. We know that every collaborative effort leads to a transformation.

In this editorial, we would like to stress on the theological meaning of Communion and Collaboration for us Vincentians, as part of the People of God. Created in the image of the Divine Communion, united in Christ, together, we form one family, and we are called to live in a communion of love, in a communion of a multitude of brothers and sisters who have but “one heart and one mind” (Acts 4:32). Both communion and collaboration have their roots in the very nature of the Triune God, in His Koinonia. It is a matter of synergy between God and the faithful that extends to be a synergy between all the members of this universal body. It is a matter of co-action.

Vincentians, we are called, today and more than ever, to be united in our diversity and to work together while journeying along the path towards a “synodal community”.

We are called to put together our gifts, charisms and resources, to co-act, to be a response to forgotten and neglected crises; to provide housing to and uplift the lives of the people we are here to serve; to acknowledge and address challenges such as climate change; and to establish relief programs to those who are most in need.

Denise El-Khoury