SYNOD: Where, and to what, is the Lord calling the Church in Tasmania?
By Archbishop Tony Ireland
Our preparations for the Archdiocesan Synod in May 2027 are steadily gathering pace.
Our Synod theme comes directly from the prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper: “May they be one as we are one” (John 17:22). These words express something very important about what we hope our Synod will achieve. Our Steering Committee has a genuine desire that this process will help to unify our Archdiocese across our island state.
We chose the theme long before Ken Hinkley arrived to coach the Tasmania Devils and declared his desire to unite the whole of Tasmania! I am pleased that he shares our ambition. There are many things that can bring Tasmanians together, and I hope our new football team will be one of them. For us as Catholics, however, our unity has a deeper source. It comes from Christ. It is nourished by the Eucharist and sustained by the Holy Spirit.
The Synod Steering Committee is now preparing the conversation pieces that will guide our Regional Listening Sessions in October and November. We hope these resources will be available to parishes during September so that parishioners can begin discussing them locally before coming together for the regional sessions.
I want to emphasise something about this process. The Steering Committee and I are planning for the Synod in May to be our Synod—a Synod for the Archdiocese of Hobart.
This means that we will concentrate on the life and mission of the Church here in Tasmania. We are not going to spend our limited time revisiting questions which lie outside the jurisdiction or remit of a diocesan Synod. Matters concerning the Church throughout Australia were extensively canvassed through the Plenary Council. Questions involving universal disciplines or practices of the Catholic Church belong ultimately to the Holy Father and those who assist him in the governance of the universal Church.
Our task is closer to home.
Where, and to what, is the Lord calling the Church in Tasmania? How can our parishes and communities become more missionary? How can we strengthen Catholic life across this island where distance and differing circumstances can sometimes separate us? How can we better support one another in carrying forward the mission entrusted to us by Christ?
To help us listen well, two Facilitator Training Sessions will be conducted in September by Dr Trudy Dantis, Director of the National Centre for Pastoral Research of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Dr Dantis participated in the two recent sessions of the Synod in Rome and brings considerable experience of synodal listening and discernment.
Members of our Steering Committee are presently seeking nominations from parishes for people who would make good facilitators. I encourage parish communities to give this careful thought. Those who offer themselves for the training should be prepared to assist not only with our Regional Listening Sessions this year but also with the Synod itself in Hobart in May 2027.
Facilitation is not about controlling a conversation or pushing a particular point of view. It is about helping people to speak and listen well, allowing different experiences to be heard while keeping our attention fixed upon the question that matters most: how is the Spirit of the Lord guiding us?
As I wrote last month, a Synod is first of all a time of prayer and reflection for our local Church. Before it is a meeting, it is an ecclesial act. Before we develop plans, we must listen. Before we decide where we want to go, we must ask where Christ is leading us.
There will be plenty of work between now and May 2027. There will be conversations in our parishes, listening across our regions and discernment together as an Archdiocese.
Through it all, the prayer of Jesus remains before us: “May they be one as we are one.”
May that prayer become increasingly true of the Church in Tasmania—and may our Synod reveal what the Lord is asking of us.