Gonzaga University was one of 15 Catholic colleges and universities selected to participate in Loyola University Chicago’s new program, the Catholic Education Network to Enact and Resource Synodality, or CENTERS. The program is funded through a $10 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. and aims to revive the practice of synodality, which emphasizes community engagement in decision making within the Catholic Church.
“The idea behind this grant is that the American Catholic universities have an interesting role to play to teach people on our campuses and in the local diocese that the school is in about synodality,” Vice President for Mission Integration Ellen Maccarone said.
The term synodality is derived from the Greek word “synodos,” which means to “walk together.” According to professor of religious studies and graduate program director Kevin Brown, the practice of synodality has existed since the early days of the Catholic Church and is centered around the ideas of listening to a diverse array of voices within and outside the church, co-responsibility and community discernment…