The results of Australia’s national diocesan synthesis on the Synod on Synodality reveals Australian Catholics need a Church that is missionary and a Eucharistic community that is inclusive.
Trudy Dantis, director of the National Centre for Pastoral Research which prepared the booklet, said hundreds of submissions were made by groups and individuals.
Australia’s Fifth Plenary Council also drew out “very rich information” relevant to the experience of synodality” she said.
The Council’s schedule of events and activities synchronised with the Synod process. Many Synod questions had already been raised during the diocesan pre-Plenary Council consultations.
Dioceses were encouraged to use the relevant material from the Plenary Council group and individual submissions to avoid repetitive discussions.
Some dioceses also integrated the feedback received from other diocesan synodal processes.
Another important source of feedback was the responses made by young people during the consultation for the 2018 Synod of Bishops XV Ordinary General Assembly.
For many people, the limitations on the role of women in leadership constituted an obstacle to greater synodality and this issue needed urgent attention.
There was a desire among many that women—lay and religious—needed to be given greater opportunity and empowerment for leadership positions, including in parishes.
There was also a desire for ongoing discussion about the ordination of women and a need for greater clarity around the consideration of women for diaconate roles.
While a bicultural approach is not mentioned in the synthesised report, concerns that indigenous people are included in the Church are expressed.
In dioceses with a greater presence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, a yearning was expressed for greater recognition and use of indigenous spirituality in liturgy and Church life – both in the diocese and the wider Church in Australia.
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