What we've been up to...

synod noun
1. An assembly of the clergy and sometimes also the laity in a diocese or other division of a particular Church.

A Synod is intended as a Synodal Process. The aim of the current synodal process is not to provide a temporary or one-time experience of synodality (community and conversation), but rather to provide an opportunity for the entire People of God to discern together how to move forward on the path towards being a more synodal Church in the long-term.

There is a new two-year synodal process taking place in the Catholic Church from October 2021 to October 2023. The overall theme is 'For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission'. The Synodal process is asking parishes, and all Catholics young and old important questions that will help to shape the focus of the Catholic Church as we look to the future. It's outcomes will be taken on board by the Archdiocese and the fruits will be discerned and embedded. As a diocese that is faithful to the mission entrusted to us by Jesus Christ, this process will help us to become a community that is full of missionary disciples who work together co-responsibly in vibrant communities of faith, more joyful in our service of God and neighbour. In line with this synod, we have been given a 'Diocesan Vision', help us focus on some key demographics and areas that we can focus on together to better aid the Churches Mission.

In preparation for a meeting of the Synod of Bishops focused on youth, the pope wrote a letter to young people, saying the Church wants "to listen to your voice, your sensitivities and your faith, even your doubts and your criticism." 
"Make your voice heard," the pope told young people. "Let it resonate in communities and let it be heard by your shepherds of souls."
Pope Francis

Gathered Document

Synod 2018

FOUR FOCUS POINTS OF OUR VISION:

• Evangelisation – Encouraging others to know God’s love for them by inviting them to church, to pray and to encounter Christ, and to groups where they can learn about Him. Forming missionary disciples and missionary parishes.
• Formation - Growing leaders in our churches, schools and parish communities, by providing both spiritual and pastoral formation and support, to help prepare us for new roles. Helping you to understand more about your faith in order to deepen your personal relationship with God.
• Liturgy and Worship - Invigorating and deepening our worship and sacramental celebrations so that we share in, and radiate, the divine life of God. Encouraging others to join us in prayer to our Heavenly Father.
• Social Outreach - Building up the common good through our charitable outreach in the giving of our time, our resources and our love to those who need it most. Inviting others to join us in charitable work.

Since the 2018 Synod on ​Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment, to the 2021 Synod on the we have been listening to the voices of young people up and down the diocese on their views of the Church they are a part of, and they, in turn, have been helping us to form our work with them. In 2021, we went to schools up and down the diocese to talk to young people about they barriers they have in their faith, being faithful in today's society, and their hopes for the Church. 
This summer, we have returned to those schools, to talk again, and to tell them more about what's been happening in the Church since those discussions, and what we are doing with what they have said.