Asian Synod Team Members Nurture Friendship through Creative Synodality Exercise

Friendship and personal encounter were placed at the heart of synodal life as representatives of Asian national synod teams took part in a creative group activity designed to help them know one another beyond their roles and countries.

The activity, titled “Synodality Begins with Friendship,” was held after lunch on September 1 at the Joseph Nittayo Conference Hall at Baan Phu Waan Pastoral Training Center in Bangkok, as part of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) Meeting of National Synod Teams.

The session was led by Dr. Estela Padilla, executive secretary of the FABC Office for Theological Concerns. Dr. Padilla was a member of the Synod of Bishops in Rome in 2023–2024 and serves on the lead team of the Synod Implementation Commission for the Philippines and Asia.

Dr. Padilla invited participants to move beyond formal introductions and develop relationships through personal sharing. She emphasized that the diversity of the group would enrich the meeting as participants came from different countries, experiences and backgrounds.

Rather than asking participants to make conventional introductions, the activity used six rounds of sharing in groups of three. In each round, participants formed a triad with people they did not know well and reflected on a picture displayed on the screen.

The presentation instructed participants to tell a story connected with the picture and an experience that would help others get to know them personally.

The images included everyday objects and experiences such as a public ride, dried fish, crayons, a muddy road, a native mat and a feast. Each became a starting point for participants to share something of their lives, cultures and experiences.

Dr. Padilla also encouraged participants to speak about their families, neighborhoods, countries and involvement in the Church, including how they became engaged in ministry or discovered their vocation.

The exercise was intended to help participants encounter one another first as people rather than simply as representatives of synod teams or Church institutions.

After the six rounds, Dr. Padilla gathered all participants into a large circle. Each person was invited to offer a single word or short phrase as a prayer emerging from the experience.

The words reflected the diversity and commonality of the gathering: “harmony,” “trust,” “compassion,” “joy,” “unity,” “listening,” “communion,” “wisdom,” “discernment,” etc.

Participants were then invited to place their right hand on the shoulder of the person standing beside them and pray silently for that person and for the Asian synod teams.

Dr. Padilla described the gesture as a prayer for those who would help carry the Church’s mission of communion, participation and mission in their respective countries.

The activity concluded with the participants singing “Ubi Caritas” three times, followed by prayers for one another and the gathered community.

The closing prayer expressed the purpose of the exercise: to deepen friendship and mutual trust among people who will continue walking together in the synodal journey.

For Dr. Padilla, building relationships is not separate from synodality. A synodal Church depends on people who know one another, listen to one another, pray for one another and are willing to journey together despite differences in culture, language and experience.

The exercise thus offered the Asian synod teams a practical beginning to their meeting: before discerning together how the Church should move forward, participants were invited to meet one another, listen to one another and become companions on the journey.