ATLANTA — Responding to Pope Francis’ call to embrace synodal listening and discernment, the Franciscan Friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe have embarked on a year-long Franciscan Synod that will culminate in Kansas City in January 2025. Guided by the Spirit, they seek concrete answers to pivotal questions that will shape their future – how they live and witness the Gospel, revitalize Franciscan life, and discern their ministry direction.  

The Franciscan Synod in the US – where friars and lay partners will gather to pray and discern – is unfolding as part of a global discernment led by the Order of Friars Minor. The Order has invited every entity across the world – friars, Secular Franciscans, Franciscan Sisters and lay partners – to synodal discussion and renewal process in areas of Franciscan charism, lifestyle and mission.   

At the core of the Franciscan Synod are these questions: how will they renew Franciscan life in the US and stand as witnesses to the Church and the world today? The Synod will produce a report that will be shared with the international Order in Rome and forge a future path for close to 700 Franciscan Friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  

Also, during this Synod, friars will embrace synodal discernment to form a new culture for the newly unified province that will be representative of the five provinces that came together back in October 2023. Adding to the challenges of the Synod is discerning where friars are called to serve as they deal with diminishing numbers of friars, vocations and resources and an aging community in the US.  

The Franciscan Synod Process 

Earlier this year, hundreds of friars, Franciscan family members and lay ministry partners gathered across the country for the first round of synodal sessions in 50 local friaries (places where the friars live). From late September to mid-November, almost 300 friars gathered for seven regional synodal assemblies to review and discuss the reports from the first round. What has surfaced in discernment from these local and regional gatherings will lay the foundation for discussion and discernment at the national Franciscan Synod in Kansas City in January 2025.  

The Synod is the culmination of a journey that started back in 2012 and concluded with a vote in 2018 to unite the provinces in a desire to renew Franciscan life in the US and their Franciscan witness to the church and world. The first Chapter of the newly unified province was the first milestone, and the Synod is the second.  

The goal of the Synod is to invite the friars more deeply into the process of renewal and help them discern a collective path into the future that will further define their identity as one province and one culture.  

For more information, contact media@friars.us.