Many voices one mission
Synod
The whole Archdiocese is invited to be involved with our Synod this year. The key stages of the process are Dialogue Week, beginning on February 22; the members’ retreat on March 14; the opening Synod Mass at the Cathedral on May 29; the First Session on May 30 and then Second Session on June 27.
For a greater understanding of the Synod and the underlying concept of synodality, let me share with you from the Final Document of the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops that was held in Rome in October 2024.
The introduction makes clear that synodality is not just a new idea that has recently emerged, but that “every new step in the life of the Church is a return to the source” and that source is the person of Christ and a renewed “encountering of the Risen One”. The key themes were Communion, Mission and Participation.
Synodality is primarily characterised by the wisdom of the ‘sense of faith’ (sensus fidei) of the people of God and “based upon a shared baptismal identity, rooted in the tradition of the Church”. Put simply, synodality is firmly grounded in the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, beginning from a renewed understanding of baptismal dignity of all members of the Church as the people of God.
The Synod in Rome began with a Penitential Service to highlight that it was not just a planning or restructuring process but a time for ‘listening to the Gospel’ and for the ‘forgiveness of sins’ and for ‘repentance and conversion’.
Under the heading of ‘The heart of Synodality’ we are reminded that baptism involves ‘a call to holiness’ and that in the Church there are ‘varieties of charisms and ministries’ all based on the ‘sacramental roots of the people of God’. It speaks of our communion as Church, with all local churches in communion with the ministry of the successor of Peter, the Pope who is the ‘perpetual and visible principle and foundation of the Church’s unity’.
In speaking again of the ‘sensus fidei’ it says that it ‘must not be confused with public opinion’ and that ‘it is always in conjunction with the discernment of pastors at the different levels of Church life’.
A spiritual disposition is called for along with ‘listening to the Word of God, contemplation, silence and conversion of heart’.
The process of the Synod was ‘Ecclesial Discernment’ which is a ‘joint exercise of discernment, consultation, cooperation which informs and underpins the subsequent taking of a decision by the competent authority’.
At the Synod in 2024 this authority meant Pope Francis and for our Synod this year it means our pastor, Archbishop O’Regan, who alone decrees the outcomes for the Archdiocese. A synod is not a poll or like a parliament.
The 2024 Synod referred to the Church as ‘home, a place of welcome, hospitality and inclusion’. And referred to ‘popular piety as one of the places of a missionary synodal Church’.
The synodal process is not an end in itself but a means to the end of the Church which in fidelity to Christ is essentially called to the mission of proclaiming the reign of God and the formation of all the baptised as ‘missionary disciples’.
The Gospel of John 20. 21, ‘as the Father sent me, so I am sending you’, sums up the theme of our synod.
Because our synod this year is a formal and canonical process there are those of the Archdiocese who must be present and then those who are called to be members, reflecting the broad variety of the whole Archdiocese. But we are all called to be involved.
Also, because our synod is not primarily an organisational exercise but a faith response in openness of heart to the call of the Holy Spirit, it needs to be grounded in prayer. I encourage all in the Archdiocese to be involved through ongoing personal and communal prayer.
