SYNOD: Synod 2027 – our next steps
By Archbishop Anthony Ireland
On Grand Final Day, the second of the Facilitator Training Sessions was held at Sacred Heart College in Hobart. A very good number of priests and people attended, and we were blessed to have Dr Trudy Dantis come to lead as she had done so well in Launceston earlier in the month.
The training for would-be facilitators involved learning the mechanics and art of conducting ‘Conversations in the Spirit’. Dr Dantis shared with us her experiences of this process in Rome at the two sessions of the last Synod and her involvement with the Australian bishops in the various stages of preparation including at the gathering of the Federation of Catholic Bishops of Oceania in Fiji.
In my September newsletter to the priests, I have asked the priests to now conduct listening sessions in the parishes ahead of the three Regional Listening Sessions to be held in October and November.
The parish listening sessions, like the Regional Listening Sessions should use the ‘Conversations in the Spirit’ methodology and most parishes will now have priests or people who have been trained in the methodology which is:
Two minutes to pray for each member at your table by name. Two minutes for each member to speak uninterrupted. Two minutes silence.
Two or one minute for each member to speak uninterrupted just highlighting what resonated or touched them in the other people’s talks.
Two minutes silence. Five minutes of free discussion with the table’s common points being recorded and reported.
The Synod Steering Committee has prepared these six questions for use in the listening sessions in parishes and the three Regional Listening Sessions during October and November:
- How is Christ calling us to conversion through this synodal journey?
- Where is Christ calling us to have courage as missionary disciples?
- Where has the Spirit blessed the People of God in Tasmania?
- Where is Christ seeking to bring healing on this island?
- How can we more joyfully listen to the presence of Christ among us?
- How is the Spirit drawing us to become ever more one in Christ on this island?
Parishes are invited to send reports of their listening sessions to Synod@aohtas.org.au and to use these sessions to prepare well for the regional listening sessions where a variety of new voices and contexts will be heard. The listening sessions in parishes and at regional level will assist the Steering Committee in its deliberations to prepare for the Synod itself.
For those not participating in the listening sessions at parish or regional level, I invite you to pray that the Holy Spirit will guide the process and the people. As the ‘Adsumus’prayer to the Holy Spirit intercedes: “Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions.”
On the Feast of Christ the King, 22 November, during the 10.30am Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral, I will formally convoke the Archdiocese of Hobart Synod 2027.
May the Holy Spirit guide us all.