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National Catholic Reporter Spotlights IAF Assistance with Synod

[Excerpt]

Rabbi John Linder from Phoenix gave the pope a leather-bound and gold-leaf Hebrew Bible during the visit. "The most important commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself," the rabbi said, "but what does that look like?" "Pope Francis said it's about 'amor concreto,' or 'concrete love,' " recalled Linder. "And that means being with people, paying attention to their needs — for example figuring out that a community needs water or needs electricity. "Amor concreto," Linder said. "That will stay with me forever."

[In photo, a synod training session is held by Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA) at a parish in the Diocese of Monterey, California. COPA community organizers trained around 500 Catholics to conduct synodal listening sessions in the region.]

For Synod Listening Sessions, US Bishops Turned to Community Organizers, National Catholic Reporter [pdf]

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