Synod provides ‘manifesto’ for Irish Church renewal – Primate

Time for action rather than ‘talking shops’

Ireland’s most senior prelate has said the Synod of Bishops on the Family has provided the Church here with a “manifesto” for the renewal of the Faith.

Dismissing the need for further consultation within Irish dioceses and parishes, Archbishop Eamon Martin told The Irish Catholic he would be “disappointed” to return to Ireland from Rome for another series of “talking shops”.

Dr Martin was amongst almost 300 bishops in Rome who backed a plan that is expected to usher in a significant pastoral shift in the Church’s approach to families.

The synod is asking the Church to help people in practical ways to get married and to stay married, and calls for special outreach to those who have suffered the collapse of marriage and family, helping to heal and integrate them in the life of the Church.

“I think there is enough in this synod to be establishing family support systems, support structures for marriage preparation, for the initial years of marriage and for families in difficulty.

“I see a very joined up thinking of family catechesis, family support, the new evangelisation and the establishment of parish pastoral councils throughout Ireland which are actively involved in pastoral ministry to other families,” he said.

Noting that the synod was a “fantastic resource” for the Church in Ireland, Archbishop Eamon said the assembly would act as a “springboard” for preparations for the World Meeting of Families in Dublin in 2018.

The archbishop said he planned on putting “some very concrete initiatives emerging from this synod” into place ahead of the key meeting of families which Pope Francis may attend in three years’ time.

“I think that the World Meeting of Families gives us a goal. It would be lovely for [the Pope] to see that we have taken some of the ideas of this synod, which is obviously very dear to him, and tried to make something happen,” he said.

The Primate of All-Ireland also revealed plans to establish a “network of families”, insisting that he was “convinced” that the agents of the Church’s ministry to families in the future “will be other families”.

“We somehow need to find ways of empowering young couples, with their young families to become agents of the new evangelisation and family support for other families.

“There is loads there for us to be getting on with and we ought to hit the ground running,” he said.