By Jamie O’Brien
Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has told an international gathering of Church leaders that genuine renewal within the Catholic Church must be grounded in the Gospel and not merely in structural reform, during a Vatican seminar marking the Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies.
Speaking on 25 October as part of the Jubilee convened by Pope Leo XIV, Archbishop Costelloe urged participants to ensure that synodal structures are “animated by the culture of the Gospel,” warning that without such grounding, synodality risks becoming little more than an administrative exercise.
“Our task,” Archbishop Costelloe said, “is not to remake the Church but to play our part in ensuring that the Church is faithful to its Lord.”
Authentic renewal, he added, “must arise from a missionary spirituality – one that listens deeply, discerns prayerfully, and acts with fidelity to Christ.”
A Spirituality of Synodality
Drawing from the Final Document of the Second Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop Costelloe reflected on what he called the Spirituality of Synodality — a vision in which all members of the Church are called to participate actively and responsibly in its mission.
“Synodality is a style, an attitude, an openness, a willingness to understand,” he said, echoing words of Pope Leo XIV, who has described synodality as “an attitude that helps us to be Church by promoting authentic experiences of participation and communion.”
The Archbishop warned against creating “a new elite class in the Church” by excluding those unable to serve in formal participatory bodies. Every Christian, he said, is both a giver and receiver within the life of the Church, “an actor in the lives of others and equally someone who is willingly acted upon by others.”
He noted that while the Church must value its consultative and deliberative bodies — such as pastoral, presbyteral and finance councils — these should serve the Gospel rather than bureaucratic ends.
“Culture,” he reminded participants, “eats structures for breakfast.” Without cultural and spiritual renewal, he cautioned, structural reform alone “will change very little.”
Fidelity to Mission
Archbishop Costelloe drew on Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium, which calls for a “missionary option” that transforms every aspect of Church life so that it “can be suitably channelled for the evangelisation of today’s world rather than for self-preservation.”
He linked this vision to Pope Leo XIV’s recent call for a synodal Church that “evangelises better and works together for justice.”
During the Jubilee meeting a day earlier, Pope Leo had told participants that synodality must strengthen the Church’s mission of proclaiming the Gospel and help Catholics “collaborate to make the world a better place.”
Pope Leo XIV emphasised that the Church must not fear dialogue and diversity, but embrace them as expressions of communion and mutual respect.
Listening and Discernment
For Archbishop Costelloe, the synodal journey is above all a spiritual process of listening — to God, to one another, and to the signs of the times.
“Deep listening,” he said, “is the key to discernment. We must ensure that what we hear, within ourselves and among ourselves, is discerned in the light of the Gospel.”
He urged synodal teams and Church leaders to cultivate this attitude in all their deliberations, ensuring that decisions are taken “with respect for the consultation process and in recognition of the Holy Spirit at work in the community.”
His words echoed Pope Leo’s homily two days later at the Jubilee Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, where the Holy Father called for a Church that is “humble, welcoming, and guided by love,” one that “does not stand triumphant and inflated with pride, but bends down to wash the feet of humanity”.
A Shared Mission of Renewal
As President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and a key participant in Australia’s own Plenary Council process, Archbishop Costelloe has been a leading voice in promoting synodality as both spiritual renewal and missionary conversion.
He concluded his Vatican address with a challenge that resonated with his audience: “Any synodal body in the Church must be grounded in, shaped by, and measured against the Word of God,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
“We cannot hope for a renewed and deeply faithful Church if we do not commit ourselves to a profound spiritual renewal based on the conviction that Christ is the head of his body, the Church,” he said.