Throughout the discussions leading up to the synod's final week, small groups "have been very specific and intentional that we don't become too Western with our approach."

“Jesus finds people where they are, but he never leaves them where they are.”

“I was surprised that they even listened to me,” said Rev. Martina Viktorie Kopecká. “I am quite young and a woman. I wore a white stole. They are not pushing me away.”

“We take people where they are, walking with them, moving forward,” Cardinal Blase Cupich said.

For U.S. Catholics, every synod is also a valuable reminder—and corrective—that it is not all about us.

“The church should provide opportunities for young people to live out their faith in the world, not just keep it in a building during class or Mass.”