Synodality: ‘Discerning and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit’

By Wendy Shaw

The importance of listening deeply, prayer and silence have been underlined as the Archdiocese of Hobart prepares for the Synod Gathering in May next year.

About 40 lay and clergy attended a facilitator training session at St Finn Barr’s Catholic School Hall in the Launceston suburb of Invermay on 5 September.

This session, and another to be held on 26 September in Hobart, will prepare participants for their roles in Regional Listening Sessions later this year.

The director of the National Centre for Pastoral Research from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Dr Trudy Dantis, led the training.

Dr Dantis was the national coordinator for the Synod in 2021-’24; adjunct secretary of the Plenary Council; and one of ten Oceania representatives at the global synod in Rome in 2023 and 2024.

“We are here primarily because of Pope Francis’s call for us to become a synodal church,” she said.

“Synodality involves discerning and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit and it recognises that in communal discernment, each of us has a part to play.

“We don’t have the whole picture. We have part of the picture and that is why there is the need for this Conversation in the Spirit process—to hear more clearly what the Holy Spirit is trying to say to us, through all of us, at this table.

“[I]n the process of synodality we walk together, first of all, recognising all of us are responsible for the Church’s mission; we listen to each other by making space for each person’s voice; and we discern together and we move from ‘what do I think about this question’ to ‘what do we think’ to what the Holy Spirit is telling us through this conversation.

“The prayerfulness of the process is really important.”

Dr Dantis explained the idea of ‘Conversation in the Spirit’.

“It is the tool we use to …  move from conversation to communal discernment,” she said.

“It is a way of engaging in prayer, reflection and discernment. As we listen and reflect and discern together, our assumptions may be challenged.

“This is where the voice of the Holy Spirit comes in and conversion starts taking place. We deepen understandings. Our hearts may become more open to promptings of the Holy Spirit.

“This conversation is not simply about exchanging ideas. It is about creating the conditions for personal and communal conversion, and the role of grace is very important.

“It is only through prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit that you can find a way forward.”

She urged attendees to approach the session with curiosity, generosity and a willingness of heart as they learned how to facilitate a good Conversation in the Spirit process.

“Good facilitation is a practical service to the whole group and it helps people participate; it ensures everyone’s voices are heard; and it helps the whole group to listen carefully,” Dr Dantis said.

“But the emphasis on the facilitator is not on having the right answer, not on influencing the outcome, not on having the loudest voice at the table. Rather the facilitator’s role is to safeguard this whole process of Conversation in the Spirit and ensure that it takes place as authentically as possible.”

Archbishop Tony Ireland, Synod Project Officer Jane McKeown and members of the Synod Steering Committee—parishioners Laura Smith, Heidi Portugal and Jenny Johnson and Bellerive-Lindisfarne Parish assistant priest Fr Kasun Dananjaya—were also present at the Invermay session.

Jane said around 80 lay people and clergy from the Archdiocese would take part in the two facilitator training sessions, in preparation for leading small groups at the Regional Listening Sessions in Devonport on 31 October, Launceston on 7 November and Hobart on 21 November.

“The Archdiocesan Synod in 2027 will be in line with the Code of Canon Law,” Jane added.

The Synod Steering Committee had extended invitations to parish priests for them to nominate lay people for the facilitator training, she explained.

“[This] has been a strong call to mission and a true blessing with a large number of lay people across our island saying ‘Yes’ to journey together in faith.”

Archbishop Tony Ireland said that in the process of the Synod, “each one of us might come with an agenda, but … to receive what the Lord is saying to us, we have to put down our pre-agendas and be open to what He is saying to us”.

“Just as a rest is important on a music score, silence is important in times of prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit,” he added.

The Archdiocesan Synod Gathering will take place in Hobart on 14-16 May, 2027.