I welcome today’s publication by the General Secretariat for the Synod in Rome of the Preparatory Document, indicating the guiding principles of the Synod on Synodality that is due to take place in Rome in 2023. As we embark on our own Synodal Pathway in Ireland, we can look forward to letting ourselves be inspired also by these valuable guiding principles.
I share the goal of the listening process as laid out in the preparatory document which “is not to produce documents, but to plant dreams, prophecies, and hopes.”
The Preparatory Document published today by the Vatican lays out ten “thematic nuclei” that can now be explored in greater depth in order to contribute in a richer way to the first phase of our consultation in the coming months in Ireland: how are we “journeying companions”; how do we engage in “listening” to one another; the theme of authentic communication and “speaking out”; the role of prayer and liturgy along the synodal pathway; how we live “co-responsibility in mission”; the topic of “dialogue in Church and Society”; our relations with other Christian denominations; how are authority and team work exercised in our dioceses; what are the procedures and methods of discernment and decision-making; how can we be better formed in the way of synodality.
Synod is not just about meetings; it is a way of life, a way of living out our identity as members of the People of God.
ENDS
- Bishop Brendan Leahy is Bishop of Limerick Diocese
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