“It’s all about recognising that we all have a part to play,” Archbishop Costelloe said, explaining that Pope Francis, throughout his pontificate, has been striving “to shift the Church’s culture to one of active engagement in this task of being the visible sign that Christ is with us.”
Oceania bishops finalise response to Synod’s working document.
Archbishop Costelloe has emerged as a leading figure in the church’s synodal reform process in Australia and globally. He was part of the Frascati team that synthesised the worldwide synodal dialogues and was recently appointed to the planning committee organising the synod assembly in October.
Facilitated by visiting scholar Fr Eamonn Conway, the talk series Synodality and The Future of The Catholic Church: A Journey Towards Communion, Participation and Mission was held at the Centre for Faith Enrichment on Thursdays 2 March and 9 March attracted more than 40 participants who were able to ask questions throughout the sessions.
Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference is a member of the commission and brings with him the experience of the four-year process of the Australian Plenary Council, which concluded in July 2022.
The theme Pope Francis chose for the synod is: “For a Church that Journeys Together: Fellowship, Participation and Mission.” It will meet at the Vatican from 4 to 29 October 2023.
The Synod’s General Secretariat has published Lenten resources in multiple languages for use around the world as the continental stage of the Synod continues. Photo: Adobe
In his homily for the missioning Mass, concluding the quadrennial Assembly of Bishops from across Oceania in Fiji, Samoa Pago Pago Bishop Peter Brown CSsR urged his brother bishops – at the end of a week in which they focused often on God’s creation – to reflect on their place in the Church.
In helping set the scene for synodality, not solely in the context of the current process preparing for the Synod of Bishops for a Synodal Church, Undersecretary of the Holy See’s Synod of Bishops General Secretariat Sr Nathalie Becquart XMCJ explained that “we don’t learn synodality in a book, or with a beautiful academic presentation”.
Addressed to the world’s bishops, the letter focused on the current “continental” stage of the synodal process, and the role of the bishop in the synodal process.