Catholic dioceses in New Zealand have completed their synodal consultation and submitted their diocesan synod synthesis to the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference (NZCBC), reports Mr David McLoughlin, NZCBC Communications Adviser. An unrealistic deadline for southern hemisphere countries who were enjoying a summer holiday saw Pope Francis extend the diocesan deadline by four months. “A Read more
The synodal consultation gives insight into the issues shaping the lives of local Catholics. Although themes such as child abuse, clericalism, and priestly formation are emerging internationally, these issues do not drive local synodal processes with the same intensity or to the same degree. A synodal process is a local event as much as an Read more
Synodality is not populism, it means communion, says Pope Francis. Synodality is “a path of ecclesial communion that seeks to open minds and hearts to the will of the Holy Spirit.” What synodality is not, is a reorganisation of church structures, he emphasises. In a video message to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America last Read more
New Zealand canon lawyer Msgr Brendan Daly (pictured) says the Church needs more lay people in governance roles. Its episcopal appointment process could also be altered so it is more open – it could save a lot of unnecessary distress, he says. The clerical sexual abuse scandal shows the necessity for these changes, he wrote Read more
Priests throughout the world should play an active role in contributing to the synodal process, according to two senior Catholic prelates. In a letter addressed to all Catholic priests, Cardinal Mario Grech and Archbishop Lazarus You Heung-sik said priests should try to help show the church as a welcoming home inhabited by the Lord and Read more
One of the major cultural shifts in Western society in the 20th century has been the decline – in many places, the disappearance – of the culture of deference. Many reasons have been advanced for this shift in how people relate in society, but all are agreed that it has occurred. What is a culture Read more
Pope Francis shared his vision for the Church in the Third Millennium with the members of the Synod of Bishops during their meeting in Rome in October 2015. The Synod has a meeting every two or three years and, up until the election of the first-ever Jesuit pope, they were choreographed events attended by selected Read more
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has released a report entitled ‘First Assembly Proposals from Small Groups and Individual Members’ described as the ‘fruits’ of the first of two Plenary Council assemblies. These published ‘proposals’ of the First Assembly of the Plenary Council of the Australian Catholic Church are neither ‘assembly proposals’ nor ‘fruits’ of the assembly. Read more
By now we should have adjusted to the idea and talk of a synodal Church and the meeting of a Synod of Bishops to discuss synodality. Pope Francis dropped the proposal out of the blue, really, last October, although he had been hinting at the notion for years. We have a date and place, critical Read more
Every human institution – be it a family, a village, a company or a worldwide Church – must rely on certain virtues that are common to its members if it is to survive. This is the truism that is at the basis of every system of ethics – both those that have been written down Read more