Archdiocesan Synod Report adds to national response
The final Synod report from the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn and the Military Ordinariate of Australia – part of a national response that will be sent to the Holy See in August – has been presented by Archdiocesan Synod facilitator Fr Richard Thompson.
Clericalism, celibacy, the role of the laity, social justice issues and the Royal Commission into Institutional Abuse are among key issues the Archdiocesan synthesis drafting group identified from Synod submissions.
Based on diocesan reports, the National Centre for Pastoral Research will prepare a national synthesis that will be finalised during three sessions with the bishops in May and June.
Between October 2021 and March 2022, individuals and groups were invited to reflect on and respond to a series of questions across the Synod of Bishops’ three key themes: communion, participation and mission.
The online portal for submissions closed in March, with more than 1100 responses received from thousands of people across Australia.
Pope Francis has set “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission” as the theme for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October next year.
Bishop Shane Mackinlay, the vice president of the Plenary Council, has said outcomes of the Council’s second assembly in July, where relevant to the Synod’s themes, could be captured in that Australian report.
Find out more about the Synod of Bishops process at: https://www.catholic.org.au/synodalchurch