Happy Easter!

Please make a note of the next ACTA Leeds Zoom network which will be at 2.00pm on Thursday 20 May

The main purpose of our regular reflections is to identify and share good practice across the diocese. The Zoom meetings replace the network lunches which had been established before the restrictions.

If you haven't experienced Zoom yet, just google it and you'll find out how. 

At our May meeting we will use the Proposals from the 2020 Liverpool Synod
Please have a look at the summary. It is quite a long document so you might want to pick out particular points. If there's anything you would like to focus on, please let me know and we can make sure that comes up at the meeting

Please reply to this email

• to register for the meeting and I will send you the link nearer the time
• to contact ACTA Leeds about anything in this enews

News from our Zoom meeting 25 February 2021

The February ACTA Leeds zoom network generated some interesting discussion, with representation from thirteen parishes. Thanks to Nick Shields for hosting the meeting.

The focus was a presentation by David Jackson on Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Fratelli Tutti (Brothers and Sisters All), on Fraternity and Social Friendship. David’s summary is in January’s newsletter.

David took us through the main features of the Encyclical, whose title is taken from St.Francis of Assisi’s address to his ‘brothers and sisters’, proposing to them a way of life marked by the flavour of the Gospel (FT Intro). St.Francis was a patron of inter-faith dialogue. Attending, encounter and dialogue marked the approach to his mission. There is division between those who help, and those who don’t. Pope Francis devotes the whole of Chapter 2 (A Stranger on the Road) to the parable of the Good Samaritan, teasing out the nature of the characters involved and how they might relate to what I happening today (migrants, refugees?). The Body of Christ has no borders. Self-esteem can be destroyed, and despair can destroy dialogue in a world which slips from that vision. All religions agree that ‘all are made for love’. Religion is a means of being tied together. Actions need to be founded on local and personal relationships and situations. But there is also a ‘politics of love’. Love has got to be organised. Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 speak to that theme. Chapter 7 (Paths of Renewed Encounter) expounds the non-admissibility of the death penalty, and renews the Church’s teaching of non-violence and its stance on the possession of nuclear weapons (now particularly relevant) on a path to genuine peace. David also referred us to Pope Francis’ recent book, Let Us Dream, in which he gives insight into his thinking through a series of conversations with Austen Ivereigh. (See conference below)

Points arising in our discussion. We reflected on current ‘splits’ in the U.S. both within the Catholic Church and regarding Trump’s policies in general. Catholic Trump supporters might be against abortion yet support ‘official’ killing (eg capital punishment). Christianity has been used to justify some appalling views. Views in the UK don’t seem to be as deeply divided. There was discussion about the title of the encyclical not being inclusive of women and the lack of significant reference to women within the text. Many felt that Catholic women seeking change within the Catholic Church often had more in common with people of like mind in other denominations than within the traditional RC Church. Some newly ordained, ‘traditional’ RC priests seemed to be ‘unaccountable’ for their views (Vatican II?). Most sermons often stick to the wholly spiritual aspects of faith without referring to the political dimensions of life when the Gospel is riddled with issues of social justice. Are our Bishops and church leaders involved in the ‘politics of love’? For example, what is being said about assaults on human rights, at home and abroad?  How does this all square with what Pope Francis is saying about the need for encounter, dialogue and discernment where views and perceptions differ? We felt that there is little practical encouragement for this to happen within our own parishes and our Diocese.
One participant felt strongly that our role as Catholics should now be to work exclusively within our wider communities with other agencies and faiths for the common good, rather than wasting our efforts trying to energise our local church hierarchy.  He was personally involved with a local inter-faith radio station and cited this as example of where our efforts should be directed. However most people present were also involved in wider community action (eg supporting Foodbanks, asylum seekers). In practice we felt that this wasn’t a binary choice. We were all keen to interpret and respond to the demands of Pope Francis’ encyclical on Fraternity and Social Friendship and to discern how we can best develop our mission within our local and parish communities and our Diocese.

Extract: Diocese of Leeds Annual Review 2020
We then considered an extract from the Leeds Diocesan Review 2020 p.5 (https://www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk/communications/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Annual-Review-2020.pdf ) which states: 
‘Also considering faith in our future is an initiative being pursued by our Pastoral Council which Bishop Marcus convened last year. The Bishop has asked Fr Martin Kelly, assisted by Dcn John Walsh, to co-ordinate a “listening project”; involving all clergy, laity and schools across the many parishes which together comprise our ONE Diocese. Provisionally entitled “From Parish to Mission”, ALL constructive views will actively be sought, so watch the diocesan and parish websites for details of how to contribute to the information-gathering!
 
This news took everyone by surprise. We wondered whether this had been initiated by the Diocesan Pastoral Council (had it met?) or whether this was part of a box-ticking exercise to generate diocesan evidence in anticipation of Pope Francis’ Synod of Bishops in 2022 (which will be attended only by bishops who have started on a path towards synodality within in their dioceses). The theme of the 2022 Synod is: ‘For a synodal Church: communion, participation, and mission’. Synodality, Pope Francis says, is ‘one of the most precious legacies of the Second Vatican Council...it is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church in the third millennium’.

We were very unclear as to how our diocesan listening exercise would be undertaken. Who will be involved? How might parishes be represented? Who will interpret what ‘constructive’ means? We were keen to participate and agreed to make ACTA Leeds supporters aware and would share any good practice and ideas through our ACTA Leeds network. One participant at our zoom meeting (a parish pastoral council member) informed us that they had already discussed some issues with Bishop Marcus and would use this newly established opportunity for further dialogue. Their experience is shared in this newsletter as an example of parish good practice. Supporters are invited to submit other examples of good practice which might exemplify movement towards synodality in their own church communities. 
                                                      
Further reading On Fraternity and Social Friendship: Group Reading Guide by Bill Huebsch £2.95
 

Further Updates:
Diocese of Leeds: Since our February zoom network we have learned that the Pastoral Council has established a small working party on a plan/strategy for an engaged ‘listening church’ based on the model of the Diocese of Down and Connor and that real progress will soon be reported from the group. Meanwhile we will continue to look out for developments and how we might respond on parish and diocesan websites.
 
Edinburgh Jesuit Centre: ‘What would Pope Francis do?’
 
You may already have attended or caught up with some informative zoom presentations in recent weeks. Under the banner ‘What would Pope Francis do?’ a number of issues are addressed by prominent contributors in collaboration with the Edinburgh Jesuit Centre: Austen Ivereigh  (Social Justice, 23^rd Feb), Imelda Poole (Modern Slavery 2^nd March),  Fr.James Martin SJ (LGBTQ+, 9^th March),  Christopher Lamb (Church Hierarchy, 16^th March),  Lorna Gold (Ecology, 23^rd March), Gemma Simmonds CJ (Women in the Church, 30^th March).  Recorded 1hr presentations (or access for future events) are available here Well worth a visit.