News

SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 8, 2026—Santa Clara University’s Jesuit School of Theology (JST-SCU)  is holding its second annual synodal gathering, Together at the Table, to bring together Catholic community members from across the Bay Area to experience synodality in action and advance their ability to serve as leaders in synodality in their home parishes. 

The event is taking place April 17 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST, at Locatelli Center on Santa Clara’s Mission Campus, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, Calif. Media are invited to attend or watch the keynote speech via livestream at 10 a.m. 

The theme of the event will highlight how making friends, especially across differences, is integral to the path of becoming a synodal church. 

Synodality is described as a way of living and working where the entire Church—inclusive of clergy, religious, and lay people—discerns where the Holy Spirit is leading the Church through prayer, listening, and dialogue. Pope Leo XIV, in his first address, affirmed the call to practice synodality in friendship when he said: “We want to be a synodal Church… a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close especially to those who suffer.”

“Together at the Table” aims to bring participants together in friendship and as the Church to offer a hopeful and prophetic witness in a world so given to division, polarization, and rancor. Participants will gather at round tables to make new friends and discuss how they can move the vision of synodality forward in their own spheres of influence. 

The keynote address will be given by Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., the former Master of the Dominican Order who was invited by Pope Francis to serve as retreat master for the two General Assemblies of the Synod on Synodality (Oct. ‘23 and Oct. ‘24). Cardinal Radcliffe will discuss the theological significance of making friends and the importance of friendship in the church’s synodal journey. 

The keynote given by Cardinal Radcliffe, titled “I call You Friends: Synodality and Friendship,” will be the primary topic of conversation at the tables.  Attendees will leave with a greater understanding of synodality, stronger connections to the worldwide Catholic community, a desire to participate in the act of making friends through faith conversations, and a growing interest in their own spiritual formation. 

The event will also feature a small art exhibit titled “A Shared Canvas: Exploring Artistic Expressions in Synodality.” Faculty, staff, and students from the JST-SCU community were invited to submit creative works for the exhibit focused on the power of shared conversation, spiritual reflection, and finding meaningful pathways together in mutual friendship and respect for a more just and caring world.

This event is taking place at a moment when the global Catholic Church is focused on the implementation phase of the Synod on Synodality, translating the findings of the Final Document of the three-year Vatican gathering as well as Vatican-appointed study groups into action at the local level. In addition to Together at the Table, JST-SCU continues to promote the implementation of synodality through Massive Open Online courses, a new MTS in synodal leadership, faculty scholarship, and the promotion of a faith that does justice. 

About Santa Clara University
Founded in 1851, Santa Clara University sits in the heart of Silicon Valley—the world’s most innovative and entrepreneurial region. The University’s stunningly landscaped 106-acre campus is home to the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís. Ranked among the top 15 percent of national universities by U.S. News & World Report, SCU has among the best four-year graduation rates in the nation and is rated by PayScale in the top 1 percent of universities with the highest-paid graduates. SCU has produced elite levels of Fulbright Scholars as well as four Rhodes Scholars. With undergraduate programs in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, and graduate programs in six disciplines, the curriculum blends high-tech innovation with social consciousness grounded in the tradition of Jesuit, Catholic education. For more information, see www.scu.edu.

About the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University
JST-SCU is a premier Jesuit theology center and the graduate school of theology of Santa Clara University that forms women and men from across the world to lead and minister in the 21st-century global synodal Church. The school bridges rigorous academic contextual theology with lived realities of faith and equips lay and religious students with synodal tools of spirituality, discernment, dialogue, and collaboration to make a difference in the world.

Media Contact
Ginger Monroe | JST-SCU Marketing and Communications | vmonroe@scu.edu | (510) 549-5041