Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy pictured with young Catholics of the Diocese during the build-up to the 2016 Limerick Synod. In March 2021, the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference announced a Synodal Pathway for the Catholic Church in Ireland. This pathway has overlapped with the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission,” which, after three years of deliberations, concluded in Rome last October. According to organisers, this overlap has been fortunate in two respects. On the one hand, the Final Document from the Rome synod gives a clear sense of direction to the Irish process. On the other hand, the fact that the Irish process has been underway for some time means that it can hit the ground running in terms of implementing what has now emerged from Rome.
A national pre-synodal assembly organised by the Irish bishops is to take place in October of this year, to be followed by a full national synodal assembly for the Church in Ireland in late 2026. In preparation for these events, some 250 people are already meeting in small groups at parish and diocesan levels throughout the country. Two documents are meant to be guiding their deliberations: the National Synthesis Report, which summarised the consultations that took place back in 2022, and the Final Document from the Rome Synod that was published in 2024. The over-arching question these groups are considering is, “What does God want from the Church in Ireland at this time?” As part of the preparations, time and effort is being invested in training people in facilitation skills and in how to listen and engage in discernment processes.
Support
The team leading this process deserves the support of everyone who knows that the Catholic Church in Ireland needs to act quickly if what seems like terminal decline is to be arrested. At the same time, given resources that are been invested in these processes, and have been in the past in several consultations and assemblies that achieved little, some tough questions need to be asked.
In the absence of a formal process such as a synod how will accountability, transparency and evaluation be ensured? What procedures have been agreed upon to ensure this?”
The obvious place to begin is regarding the status of the upcoming synodal assemblies. Oddly, four years on there doesn’t seem to be clarity about this. Do they constitute an actual synod of the Catholic Church in Ireland? If they do, they will be subject to Canon Law in terms of both the process they will need to follow and the implementation of outcomes. If what has been decided upon is not an actual synod, why is this the case? Is it to provide greater ‘wriggle room’? Is it to avoid binding outcomes? In the absence of a formal process such as a synod how will accountability, transparency and evaluation be ensured? What procedures have been agreed upon to ensure this?
Fundamental
A more fundamental question needs to be considered. Why ask “What does God want from the Church in Ireland at this time” given that, just a few short months ago, the question as to what God wants from the (world) Church was answered comprehensively in Rome after three years of consultation and discernment? The Church in Ireland had input into the Rome synod and representation at it. Is it likely that God wants something different for the Church in Ireland than He wants for the Church globally? Whatever the Irish synodal assemblies come up with will be subject to and circumscribed by whatever has already emerged at the Rome synod. So why shouldn’t the overarching question now be to consider how best to implement the outcomes of the Rome synod? Wouldn’t this be more straightforward?
The Synod wants to see lay people exercising authority and really participating in decision-making. What steps are being taken to make this happen?”
The Final Document of the Synod calls for a range of practical and measurable steps to be taken at local Church level. These need no further deliberation or discernment. They include:
– Increased participation of the laity in all phases of decision-making in the Church and specifically in drafting, making and confirming decisions.
– Providing greater access of the laity to positions of responsibility in dioceses as well as in seminaries, and by these aren’t meant appointments merely as advisers, consultors secretaries or administrators. The Synod wants to see lay people exercising authority and really participating in decision-making. What steps are being taken to make this happen?
Mandatory
“We insist that they be made mandatory,” the Rome Synod stated, regarding parish and diocesan pastoral councils, adding that these are “one of the most promising areas in which to act for rapid implementation of the synodal guidelines, bringing about perceptible changes speedily.” The heavy lifting regarding how these bodies are to function has already been done by the Rome synod. The Final Document is quite detailed regarding how these bodies are to be representative (of women, young people, not just those already working in the parish or diocese) and how they are to engage in decision-making. Many dioceses have already engaged in the training and formation of Council members. What is needed now is to ensure that this training reflects the Rome synod’s outcomes, not more deliberation on how or why we should have them.
The Rome Synod also requires “effective recognition of the dignity and respect for the rights of those who are employed in the Church and its institutions”. What concrete steps are being taken to ensure that laity working in the Church have proper and sustainable career paths and are being properly remunerated? This must be an urgent matter of concern as we see a decline in the number of lay people employed to work in the Irish Church at national level, the closure of Church-related companies like Veritas and the selling off of property assets etc.
The Catholic Church in Ireland will not survive another round of consultations, gatherings and assemblies that lead nowhere in terms of concrete and tangible change”
The Rome synod called for “a culture of transparency, accountability and evaluation.” This is the most pressing need for the Catholic Church in Ireland. The culture we have seen implemented regarding Child Protection needs to be replicated across the board, especially in regard to financial expenditure, including in areas such the Bishops’ Conference, Catholic school trusts, Catholic charities, and so on. It also needs to apply to what is being planned regarding the Irish Synodal Pathway. Can we see now the financial projections, for instance, and the list of intended outcomes?
Whereas the Rome synod called both for spiritual conversion and structural reform, some of the statements by Irish bishops following the Rome synod tended to emphasise personal, spiritual and pastoral conversion only. This is worrying. The Catholic Church in Ireland will not survive another round of consultations, gatherings and assemblies that lead nowhere in terms of concrete and tangible change.