Irish Church’s pre-synodal assembly to focus on role of women among other issues

The role of women, healing from abuse, the family, youth, empowering all the baptised and formation and belonging are among the priorities that the Irish Church’s pre-synodal assembly will focus on next month.

They are outlined in Baptised and Sent, the document that will guide preparations for the gathering of hundreds of representatives of parishes, dioceses and religious groups on 18 October in Kilkenny.

Launching the document, Julieann Moran, general secretary of the Irish Synodal Pathway, said it is not a conclusion but “a tool for ongoing reflection open to all”.

The next step, she added, is coming together nationally to deepen “listening and begin shaping concrete pathways for renewal”.

The reflection document outlines how the themes from the Spring Gatherings this year chimed with the 17 themes identified during the universal synodal process in Ireland from 2021 to 2024.

These were baptism, catechesis, education, faith formation, youth, liturgy, women, clergy, lay ministry, co-responsibility, abuse, sexuality and LGBTQ+ issues, culture belonging, family, ecumenism and Covid-19.

The national synodal team whittled these down to seven and among these final themes, formation was identified as “foundational for renewing the Church”.

Another pressing theme identified lay ministry as essential for parish life, not only because of the declining number of clergy but also to meet parish needs and to provide lay men and women with the opportunity to live out their baptismal call to mission and ministry.

Many also felt that the Church needs to do more to welcome and respect LGBTQ+ people. Calls for compassion, dignity, and pastoral care were “persistent” though “often entangled with tension”.

Recognising and including women’s gifts, leadership and co-responsibility at every level of Church life, as a matter of justice and credibility, also drew strong support. Many saw this issue as rooted in baptismal dignity and co-responsibility, the document states.

Young people was another priority theme in which the wish to engage the young with authenticity, offering them meaningful roles in leadership and mission and listening to their hopes and challenges was expressed.

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