Towards  Synodality - Parishes walking together…but how?

At our October ACTA Leeds zoom meeting we shared recent developments in our own parishes. (See round-up of these below by David Jackson.) 

There were numerous instances of new ways of working, with lay people becoming more involved (with or without the support of the Parish Priest). These were noted as examples of what parishes are actually doing across the diocese at this time. Although we felt that supporting projects and actions to establish opportunities for communion, participation and mission in our own parishes was crucial, we also asked how good practice can being shared and discussed within the Diocese. 

One of the ‘Difficulties, Obstacles and Wounds’ identified in the Diocese of Leeds Synodal Report; a synthesis of feedback from across the diocese, (on the first phase of the Parish to Mission listening exercise), was the reluctance of some clergy to engage fully, for various reasons. This, in effect, denied their parishioners the opportunity to participate openly. How can this post-code lottery of opportunity be made fairer, given the difficulty that ‘the Church needs to communicate much more effectively at every level’ and that ‘communication is a two-way process, and this does not characterise the Church’s internal communications at present. Strategies need to be developed to enable this change to take place’ Synodal Synthesis Report p.8 

There is also a need for parishes to be able to communicate with each other as part of this two-way process. Deanery meetings are currently only for clergy. Is there an opportunity for better communication involving laity here? At diocesan level we have the Leeds Diocesan Pastoral Council which Bishop Marcus established in 2019. From The Diocesan website : 

The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity issued by the Second Vatican Council states that: “The laity has an active part of their own in the life and action of the Church. Their action within the Church communities is so necessary that without it the apostolate of the pastors will frequently be unable to obtain its full effect.” For this reason the Statutes for the Leeds Diocesan Pastoral Council have been drawn-up to try to involve all of the major Catholic lay organisations which exercise an apostolate within our Diocese, yet remain with a size of membership that will enable it to be focussed in its work. The knowledge, experience and the current concrete pastoral apostolate of these organisations will enable the Diocesan Pastoral Council to be more strategic and effective as a consultative body.  

There is no mention of parish representation. At the time of its constitution, the Pastoral Council represented a step in the right direction, but given the feedback and conclusions of our diocesan Parish to Mission listening exercise we might ask if it is now fit for purpose. How does its current representation help our parish communities to walk together in the journey of communion, participation and mission? 

The Synodal Report states in its conclusion:  "A synthesis of the responses from the diocesan listening sessions and online contributions will be prepared by a synthesis team comprising members of the lay faithful and clergy. This will then be presented to the bishop. In a parallel process, members of the steering group will work with the various departments of the diocesan curia to bring together statistical information packs for each parish, vicariate and the entire diocese. This will enable the people of the diocese to see clearly what resources are at their disposal. It is envisaged that there will need to be a third phase of listening where the diocesan family begins to discern how it best places those resources at the service of the pastoral priorities identified in the preceding phases." P9-10.  

All this will take time and energy. However there is no reason why our thoughts and reflections shouldn’t contribute to current discussion and action; after all, the principal resource at our disposal is the People of God in the diocese. Indeed, in view of the urgency for effective communication, this may be an optimal time for Bishop Marcus and the Diocesan Synodal  Steering Group to develop the channels of communication which already exist. These would  provide established and more representative ways by which the diocesan family (including lay people and parishes) will be able to "discern how it best places its resources at the service of the pastoral priorities identified".  Parish or deanery representation on a diocesan synodal council would facilitate wider participation across the diocese and opportunities for the sharing of parish practice, for listening and discernment and would  "encourage and facilitate dialogue and listening in an open and meaningful way" (P.8).Hopefully we won’t have to wait for the results of the continental phase and the World Synod in late 2023 before we decide to get on with the job. The Diocesan Synodal Report is a call to action in a new, post-covid environment. 

The report found many joys expressed in personal faith. One was the joy of companionship on the faith journey. That certainly applied to those of us at the ACTA meeting. One of the positive outcomes of the Parish to Mission exercise in our diocese was the training of eighty or so lay-facilitators for the parish listening meetings. But will this pool of talent, that newly found resource to support the processes of listening and discerning, be sustained….or will it evaporate?  Perhaps such training on a sustained basis within the diocese would address some of the concerns identified in the report, extract below: 

"There is an appeal for the Church to become a Listening Church as well as being a Teaching Church. Such expectations in the responses call for a cultural change, moving to one that is listening, trustful, invitational and inclusive; it also requires the development of structures in the Church at every level which encourage and facilitate dialogue and listening in an open and transparent way.

Other respondents call for leadership qualities in the Church that are: contemporary, pragmatic and open to change; willing to learn from the serious mistakes of the past; operate within a flatter model of leadership that promotes shared leadership and the empowerment of the laity; and, a large number are calling for discussion and listening forums. 

Some of the responses indicate that people feel excluded from participating in the decision making in the Church and wish to have more involvement in the process, whether it be greater consultation or empowerment. To exercise their responsibility to ask questions, structures need to be established, such as parish pastoral councils, to widen participation in the parish and diocesan communities. 

What the majority of the responses evidence is a real desire by people to participate more fully in the life of the Church, with its leaders promoting among laypeople an understanding of their baptismal dignity in Christ and their apostolic vocation. There is real appreciation that the insights and charisms of the laity are a gift to the Church and need to be harnessed. Respondents believe there are many people with untapped talents and skills waiting for the invitation to be active in the mission of the Church, and that all the faithful should be helped and encouraged to discern and nurture their particular gifts. 

To participate effectively and to mobilise the laity’s knowledge and skills will require much more formation than is provided for them by the Church at present, and this is something that respondents recognise very clearly. They use different words – catechesis, education, formation, and training – but what they are expressing is an appetite, indeed a hunger for improved knowledge and skills, not least to have the knowledge that inspires greater confidence to profess their Catholic Faith. That confidence is not evident at present."(Synodal Synthesis Report P.8  our italics)

We offer these reflections, together with the examples of individual parish actions, to all those involved in listening and dialogue as our contribution to the synodal process in Leeds. We offer these in the spirit of thanks, prayer and support for the teams responsible for developing synodality across the diocese at this critical time

Vince Borg