Some Synodal proposals ‘out of touch’, the IC told at the National Assembly

Delegates representing the Church in Ireland gathered to consider and vote on 35 proposals designed to guide the future of the Catholic Church in Ireland. The National Synod Assembly took place at the City North Hotel, Gormanston, Co. Meath, on Saturday, October 17, with over 300 nominated lay, clerical and religious voting representatives.

Speaking to The Irish Catholic during a break, a delegate from the Achonry and Elphin Diocese said he was happy with some of the proposals, but others were “really out of touch” and some even “signal disunity”. For him, “the main thing now is implementation”, which will require participation from local parishes to make sure the proposals don’t fall back into the background and are forgotten in the day-to-day life of the local church.

For Martina Gilmartin, a representative from Kilmore Diocese, all this is an ongoing process and, agreeing with the Achonry and Elphin representative, she said the parishes are responsible for ensuring the proposals’ inclusion in the daily life of the Church in Ireland.

Sinéad Strong, representing the Catholic Mothers Ireland, said she supports “many of the proposals that strengthen motherhood, evangelisation, catechesis, family life, youth formation, and healing.” Her guiding principle during the Assembly was that “every proposal should help guide the Church in Ireland become more faithful to Jesus Christ, more rooted in Catholic teaching, and more effective in passing the faith on to future generations.”

AMRI’s Gerard Gallagher said there was “an improvement around the conference method” compared to the Pre-Synodal Assembly in Kilkenny last year. He noticed a lack of younger people among the delegates, “and we’re talking about them!” He also pointed out that many nationalities active in the local Church were not represented. “It’s a very wide audience [attending the Assembly]. [But] It doesn’t really reflect the Irish Church currently.”

Representative from the host Meath Diocese, Elaine Campbell, believes the five years of work were “a necessary period” and that the weekend saw all that work “coming to fruition”.  She said that “When it comes to the proposals, it’s a bit more difficult.” However, the discussions during the voting process were “very clear” and people were listening to each other. Also from Meath Diocese, Dr Rosaleen Devery agreed: “Listening is a spiritual act in itself.”