Encuentros: 50 years of synodal experience

[...]whatever happens in the faith communities that do not match such identifiers fails to be perceived or treated as really American Catholic. Medellin was preceded by multiple consultations - encuentros - with Catholics at all levels, including bishops and campesinos (peasants), leading experts and people with little or no education, teachers and advocates, often sitting in the same room and listening to one another respectfully This idea of encuentro was readily embraced by Hispanic leaders and many others working with Hispanic Catholics in the United States. [...]the Fifth Encuentro (2018), following a similar methodology anticipated some of the conversations about synodality that occupy our Catholic imagination today Hispanic Catholics have been modeling for decades practices of synodal consultation, thinking and dialogue that seek to imagine fresher ways of being church in the U.S. The rest of the Catholic community could learn much from the Encuentros and the experience that Hispanic Catholics and others have gained.