Draft working document sets out proposals ahead of National Synodal Assembly
A draft working document setting out proposals for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Ireland, seen by The Irish Catholic, has been prepared ahead of the National Synodal Assembly, which takes place in Gormanston, Co. Meath, on October 17.
The document, marked ‘draft’ throughout, is not understood to have been formally published.
The document is the culmination of five years of the Irish Synodal Pathway, launched by the bishops in 2021 to discern “What does God want from the Church in Ireland at this time?” It builds on last year’s Baptised and Sent, which identified seven priorities for the Church — Belonging, Co-responsibility and Lay Ministry, Family, Formation and Catechesis, Healing, Women and Youth — following the Pre-Synodal Assembly in Kilkenny.
Those priorities have now been distilled into five “pathways” for renewal: a Church that proclaims the Gospel, the Church as a place of belonging, the Church as a place of healing, the Church that accompanies, and the Church that empowers for ministry and co-responsibility. Each is accompanied by a series of proposals drawn from the seven Working Groups established after Kilkenny.
Among the most significant recommendations are the establishment of a permanent National Ecclesial Council, a National Office for Women at the level of the Irish Episcopal Conference, and a Commission for Healing to be jointly overseen by the Irish Episcopal Conference and the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland (AMRI). The document also recommends that pastoral councils be mandated, rather than merely advisory, at parish and diocesan level.
On the question of women’s ministry, the document recommends “on-going exploration” of the diaconate, while asking the universal Church to adopt more respectful language in relation to LGBTQ+ people.
The document also outlines its proposals against a changing Ireland, citing rising migration, secularisation, the housing crisis and continued fallout from the abuse crisis as the backdrop against which the Assembly’s deliberations will take place.
Questions are already circulating in Synodal circles as to whether the Irish bishops will be prepared to fund these proposals, especially at a time when the Episcopal Conference has been downsizing and selling office space in Maynooth.