Though launched earlier this year, 10 March 2021, a pathway to holding a National Synodal Assembly is underway. It is hoped and expected to be held within the next five years.
At our recent Diocesan Gathering in Killarney we were briefed about the task in hand and it was part of our discussions.
I thought it would be right and proper to keep you briefed, as parishioners and people of God. It is but one of the moving parts in the ever-changing life of our communities and Church…. Fr Dave
The Synodal Pathway
On 10 March 2021, the Bishop’s Conference announced a new Synodal Pathway for the Catholic Church in Ireland leading to the holding of a National Synodal Assembly within the next five years.
Challenges and Hopes for the Synodal Pathway
The challenges and opportunities that provide a context for a synodal pathway leading to a National Synod at this pivotal time for the Church on our island, taken from the Conference website, may be outlined as follows:
Solidarity, Outreach to the Peripheries and the Promise of a New Pentecost
Pope Francis’s Apostolic Exhortation The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium), together will his encyclicals Laudato Si and Fratelli Tuti, offers a challenging framework for the Church of today and tomorrow – calling us in particular to solidarity with poor, the excluded and those ‘on the peripheries’, who yearn for the Good News. This calling also includes initiatives of social friendship in favour of our sisters and brothers in other continents.
Speaking at the end of the World Meeting of Families in Phoenix Park, Dublin, 2018, Pope Francis encouraged the people of Ireland to be open to the work of the Holy Spirit:
who constantly breathes new life into our world, into our hearts, into our families, into our homes and parishes. Each new day in the life of our families, and each new generation, brings the promise of a new Pentecost, a domestic Pentecost, a fresh outpouring of the Spirit, the Paraclete, whom Jesus sends as Advocate, our Consoler and indeed our Encourager. How much our world need this encouragement that is God’s gift and promise!
Listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church in an Ireland faced with rapid transformation
Secularization of Society
A synodal pathway leading to a National Synod is inviting us to journey together in discernment of what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church in Ireland at this time. We are acutely aware of the huge challenges to the faith over the past fifty years from the rapid transformation and secularization of society in Ireland bringing with it a major decline in practice of the faith and in the number of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life.
Shocking Revelations
Like so many others we are appalled by the findings in published reports into institutional and clerical abuse; the recent shocking revelations about Mother and Baby homes in Ireland – north and south – have further reminded us of the deep trauma felt by so many in the Body of Christ and the need for inner healing and hope.
The Need to Promote Peach-making and a Culture of Welcome
One Hundred years on from the partition of Ireland we also recognize the need for ongoing peace-making, the building of trust and reconciliation, and for a culture of welcome and integration for migrants and the many newcomers who have arrived to live on this island.
Listening to the Cry for Transparency
We hear a cry for transparency, greater participation and accountability in the Church.
Discovering the Family as ‘Domestic Church’
We see the tremendous potential for the support and renewal of faith within the family. The restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic prompted a new discovery of the family as the ‘domestic Church.’
Connecting with Young People
We are alert to the need to connect with the energy and gifts of our young people, forming and enabling them to be missionaries to each other and inviting them to spread the Good News not only in Ireland but around the world that Christ is Alive!
Honouring the Contribution of Women
While many women are very engaged in Church life in Ireland, we acknowledge the critical need to honour the contribution of women, to hear their deep concerns, to formally recognize their roles and articulate new models of co-responsibility and leadership involving all lay people – women and men. We are also aware that many people have left Church behind and in some cases feel ignored, excluded or forgotten – we need to hear their voices also.
A Prayer for the Synodal Pathway
Lord of all hopefulness, as we embark on this journey together,
may we listen and discern and be guided by the Holy Spirit,
who constantly breathes new life into our world, our hearts, our families, homes and parishes.
May renewal and reform, fresh hope and healing come for all peoples of God in Ireland.
By virtue of our baptism may we each play our part in transforming the church through a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit which is your gift and promise, upon our land.
Grant us the encouragement we need to bring faith, hope and love in abundance to meet the challenges before us and to fulfil the Church’s mission of proclaiming to the world, God’s love and salvation in Jesus Christ. A Mhuire Mháthaír, mother of the Church, guard and guide us on our pilgrim way. Amen.
