Paramatta bishop, Vincent Long has announced that his diocese will hold a diocesan synod to promote root and branch reform of the church in Parramatta.
The synod will be known locally as the “Parramatta Way”.
The Parramatta Way, held in two phases, in October this year and in mid-2024, will develop a pastoral plan and a “path of renewal” for the Diocese of Parramatta.
In a letter convoking the synod, Bishop Long said the synod would significantly impact how the community and mission are carried out in the diocese.
Bishop Long has been an active and enthusiastic promoter of synodality.
In a talk given on 25 January to Catholic school leaders in the area, Bishop Long emphasised the need for a “radical shift from the ‘business as usual’ approach”.
The “Parramatta Way”
The upcoming synod will build on the work done in the governance review and develop a pastoral plan to guide the diocese in the coming years.
The synod will also promote a culture of synodality in the diocese, which the reviewers recognised as the “Parramatta Way.”
“I am proud to say that the Diocese of Parramatta is solidly on its way to becoming a synodal Church that Pope Francis is calling us to,” said Bishop Long.
“The upcoming synod is an important step in this journey and will help us to renew our commitment to the mission of the Church in Parramatta.”
According to Dr Elissa Roper, a key figure in the drafting process for the Plenary Council, synodality is “a call to listen in ever-widening circles of interest”.
“We live with ideas, with pastoral plans, with curiosity, with pre-established solutions. But it’s necessary to live with the heart.
“Living with our hearts means we respond as Jesus did to suffering and injustice.
“When Jesus looked at the hungry crowds and was moved with pity, the Greek word [in the Gospel] is splagchnizomai, this means to be moved in one’s bowels or inner parts—that is, compassion that moves the very depths of your being.
“The church on the margins, on the peripheries of a comfortable and functional life, is where we see the value of compassionate guts.”
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