https://www.catholic.org.au/synodalchurch

Women to vote in Synod assembly for first time

The Synod of Bishops will include female voting members for the first time.  Read more here.

Source:  CathNews

The process begins on the writing process for the Synod on Synodality’s working document 

Experts begin their work on drafting the Instrumentum Laboris, the working document for the first session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.  Read more here.

Oceania bishops publish response to Synod of Bishops document

Oceania bishops say their people’s reflections for the Synod of Bishops for a Synodal Church left them feeling “peace and joy”, but also called them to be prophetic and ready to “model ourselves on the love we proclaim”.   Read the media release here.  Read the report here.

Source: FCBCO

Church in Oceania prepares response to Synod of Bishops report

The rich diversity of the Catholic Church across Oceania, as well as its unity, was evident during a meeting in Melbourne last week of representatives of the region’s four bishops conferences and Eastern Catholic churches.  Read the report from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Media Blog.

Synod of Bishops: The Continental Stage

The Working Document for the Continental Stage was published by the Holy See on October 27, 2022, titled “Enlarge the space of your tent”.  Read the document here.

The next stage of the Synodal process, known as the Continental Stage, has begun. Australia is part of the Oceania Response.  Dioceses in Australia were asked to read and reflect on the working document.  The Diocese of Ballarat particpated in this. Read more here.

Pope extends Synod on Synodality to 2024

Pope Francis announced that the Synod of Bishops on Synodality will be extended by a year, with the assembly meetings to be held in Rome over two sessions in October 2023 and October 2024.  Pope Francis explained that he made the decision to hold the scheduled October 2023 assembly over two sessions with a year in between “in order to have a more relaxed period of discernment”.  Read more here.

Towards a Spirituality of Synodality

One of the most significant aspects of the 2021-2023 Synod is the recognition that it is informed and shaped by a spirituality. In developing a ‘spirituality for synodality’, we find that it assists us in integrating our theological reflection and expanding our experience of the Church as we engage more deeply in the synodal process. Indeed, as the features of a synodal spirituality unfold for us, we can come to see in it the ways in which the Holy Spirit graces the life of the Church, drawing each one into a deeper love of Christ and moving us to desire an ever greater communion, participation, and mission.

The purpose of this paper is not to give a detailed analysis of the spirituality for synodality and its theological foundations. This important work needs to be done, but it will require more extensive treatment than is possible here. Rather, it is hoped that the foundations, nature and significance of a spirituality for synodality can be developed in the light of the synodal process itself, drawing on the experience of the whole Church.

The purpose of this paper is not to give a detailed analysis of the spirituality for synodality and its theological foundations.  Rather, it is hoped that the foundations, nature and significance of a spirituality for synodality can be developed in the light of the synodal process itself, drawing on the experience of the whole Church.

Download the report here.

(Information taken from the website)

For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission.

As the first phase of the Synodal Process, ‘Listening and Discernment in the Local Churches’, concludes, Mass celebrated by Fr Kevin Maloney, Vicar General, with wide representation from across the Local Church, was a celebration of the Ballarat Diocesan response. Read more:

Read the diocesan synthesis report here.

A copy of the invitation is available to download here.

Bishop Paul comments on the Synod

2021-2023:

Walking Together in Australia

and Around the World     

On Sunday October 10, 2021 in St Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis celebrated a Mass to mark the beginning of a worldwide process leading to a Synod in Rome in 2023. As the Pope explained, the word “synod” means being together on the road, walking together, travelling together on a journey. The path of this international Synod will be like the path we have been travelling for our Australian Plenary Council. It is a path that the whole Church is invited to walk together, with everyone invited to share their personal views and listen to the views of others.

Over the past few years, many people in our diocese and around Australia have come together in local groups to share their reflections on the question “What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this time?” This is the basic question for our Australian Plenary Council. We had the first assembly of our Plenary Council in October, with lay people, religious, priests and bishops gathering online from all around Australia. We will have the second assembly in July next year. The members of the Plenary Council have the task of formulating some practical proposals to help us become a more Christ-centred, missionary Church community in Australia. The Synod that Pope Francis has called will aim to do something similar for the Church throughout the world.

The plan is to have meetings first of all in local communities, which is happening presently and below there are ways to be a part of this, then at a national level, then at the level of our region of Oceania and finally an international meeting in Rome. Through all this process, we are invited to walk together and share our faith and listen to others as they share their faith, and through this exchange, come to know what God is asking of the Church throughout the world.

One of the people assisting the Synod is an Australian, Susan Pascoe. As a member of one of the Synod commissions, Susan was in Rome for the Mass on October 10. She has shared something of our Australian Plenary Council experience with those organising the worldwide Synod. She believes that elements of our Australian process could be valuable elements in the international process. We have involved many voices through Plenary Council gatherings all around the country. We have included prayer and listening as basic ingredients of discernment. Through the live streaming of the first assembly, we have made proceedings of the Plenary Council accessible to a wide audience. These elements have enriched our Plenary Council experience and they could enrich the process of the worldwide Synod.

This Synod will actually highlight the call to walk together as members of the Church. The title is “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission”. We are invited to reflect on how we are united with one another in the communion of one people of God. We are asked to consider how each member of the Church can participate in the life of the Church. We are encouraged to think about how each one of us has a role in the Church’s mission to share the Good News of Christ in what we say and in the way we live. We are invited to share our reflections with others and listen to others as they share their reflections with us.

In his homily for the Synod’s opening Mass, Pope Francis highlighted the fact that Jesus himself gives us a great example of listening to people he met along the way. The Pope was commenting on the gospel story about the person who asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Pope Francis emphasised that Jesus listened carefully to the question and spent time in responding.

“What must I do to inherit eternal life? Such an important question requires attention, time, willingness to encounter others and sensitivity to what troubles them. The Lord does not stand aloof; he does not appear annoyed or disturbed. Instead, he is completely present to this person. He is open to encounter. Nothing leaves Jesus indifferent; everything is of concern to him. Encountering faces, meeting eyes, sharing each individual’s history. That is the closeness that Jesus embodies. He knows that someone’s life can be changed by a single encounter. The Gospel is full of such encounters with Christ, encounters that uplift and bring healing. Jesus did not hurry along, or keep looking at his watch to get the meeting over. He was always at the service of the person he was with, listening to what he or she had to say.”

Jesus’ listening was an important part of his service of those he met along the road. He listened carefully so that he could know their story. He could then respond to them in a way that really met their personal needs. The gospels tell us that Jesus came to serve. A key step in his serving was his listening. This is a key step for for us as well. The more deeply we can listen to one another, the better we will be able to serve one another.

I pray that God will grant us listening hearts as we share in the process of our Australian Plenary Council and as we share in the process of the worldwide Synod over the next couple of years. May we have the grace to listen carefully to each person we meet along the way. Being good listeners will help us to be good servants.

Bishop Paul Bird CSsR

Local consultation opens for global Synod of Bishops

Catholics were invited to join local consultations about their experience of synodality within the Church as part of a two-year journey towards the international Synod of Bishops, set for October 2023.

Ten areas of synodality were being explored with questions in each area across those themes of communion, participation and mission. Catholics were invited to pray with, reflect upon and respond and to help develop a process of communal spiritual discernment.

Launch

On Sunday, October 10, 2021 Pope Francis celebrated Mass to mark the global launch of the Synod of Bishops with the theme For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission. In dioceses around the world, local launches took place on the weekend of October 16/17, ushering in a period of local consultation that will assist with the two-year process that will culminate in the Synod of Bishops gathering in Rome in October 2023.

A page on the Bishops Conference website has been set up as a hub for Synod of Bishops content. It has links to the preparatory document and vademecum (handbook) for the Synod, and a video produced by the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation explaining the Synod process can also be accessed there.

Given the significant interest in the Synod of Bishops and its relationship with the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, there is a document on that web page showing the anticipated timelines and milestones for those two important journeys.

Prayer for the Synod

 We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather together in Your name.

With You alone to guide us, make Yourself at home in our hearts;

Teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it.

We are weak and sinful; do not let us promote disorder.

Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions.

Let us find in You our unity so that we may journey together to eternal life

and not stray from the way of truth and what is right.

All this we ask of You, who are at work in every place and time,

in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever.

Amen.