Penelope Middelboe I fear for Pope Francis’s health. I wrote him a personal letter posted on 7 December, but it hasn’t left the UK yet according to the tracking number. I fear for his health because the last time I wrote personally to a pope was in May 1963 when I was six years old.…
The Vatican’s Communication Team for the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops has announced that the Continental Phase, which marks the second phase of the Church’s synodal process, will commence with a press conference explaining the mechanics of the next stage of the Church’s Synodal journey. The press conference will begin at 12pm Irish…
On Monday, the Swiss Bishops’ Conference published a document for the upcoming Synod on Synodality in Rome reporting the Catholic Church was seen as suffering from clericalism —as well as “denying equality to women” and excluding “people with LGBTQ identity”. “Several official church positions on the role of women in church and society, on sexuality…
Ireland’s national synthesis was released on August 16. Here is a summary of the 15 key themes that emerged during the listening sessions in Ireland’s dioceses, along with some other issues that didn’t feature as prominently throughout the discussions. The document will now be forwarded to the Synod Secretariat in the Vatican as part of the…
The German Synodal Path – often mired in controversy – has become a widely disputed and publicised spectacle in the realm of Catholic media. But just where is the Church in Germany currently positioned in the intervening months that have followed? What has been the official Vatican response to the radical new proposals that have…
Over the course of last eight months, Catholics around the world began gathering in church halls and school gyms to, in the words of Pope Francis, “look others in the eye and listen to what they have to say”. These listening sessions were the first phase of the two-year-long Synod on Synodality that will end…
Reverend Dr Eugene Duffy, a lecturer of Theology and Religious Studies at Mary Immaculate College Limerick, spoke of his admiration for the synodal meetings held in Ireland’s dioceses and praised the spirit and nature of the discussions thus far. “The summaries have been very impressive and I suppose it has been reassuring that what we…
Speaking to young delegates participating at the National Pre-Synod Assembly in Athlone, The Synodal Times asked those involved in Diocesan grassroots movements what their views on the Church at present are. Here we speak to the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Kilmore, Francis Keaney. Commenting on the days’ events,…
Mary Anne Collins from Cork, one of the youngest delegates at the National Pre-Synodal Assembly said the entire event was very upbeat. Young people, she said, are “really looking for authenticity and sincerity. When they do find the truth, they’re really willing to embrace it and that that has been my experience: that young people…
Another young lay delegate who featured at the National Pre-Synodal Assembly discussion, Patrick Byrne from the Diocese of Ardagh, told The Synodal Times that the discussions had been stimulating, but more needs to be done if the Church wishes to fruitfully reach out to the margins. “It’s been a very good experience”, he said. “What…