Hope, Belonging, and Discernment Initiative

The University of San Francisco (USF) is one of 16 universities in the national Catholic Education Network to Enact and Resource Synodality (CENTERS). Supported by a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., CENTERS is dedicated to transformative learning, scholarship, and community engagement related to synodality. 

The global synod is not an isolated event in the Catholic Church. It is a way of walking together through tensions, fostering collective discernment, inclusive participation, and belonging. 

By engaging synodality at USF, FLIGHT will foster deep listening and discernment about our Catholic identity, leaning into difficult conversations and cultivating experiences of belonging and co-responsibility for our university’s mission. 

Evelyn Rodriguez

Faculty Director for Synodal Leadership and Mission Co-Responsibility serves with the Lane Center Director as an institutional co-lead for "F.L.I.G.H.T. (Faith, Leadership, Integration, Growth, Hope, Transformation) at USF," a multi-year faculty formation initiative that cultivates synodal leadership through shared discernment, critical reflection, and collaborative engagement. Working alongside faculty colleagues, the Faculty Director designs and facilitates opportunities to deepen understanding of synodality, examine the Church's historical and contemporary practices in light of its mission, and foster co-responsibility for reimagining how Jesuit higher education and faith community partners can embody synodality as a practice of justice, accompaniment, and mission. 

Resources:

Learn more about USF’s involvement with CENTERS: 

https://www.usfca.edu/news/usf-awarded-national-catholic-education-sub-grant 

Read about Pope Leo’s embrace of synodality in CST: 

Where synodality shows up in ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ - America Magazine.pdf