Gormanston hosts national assembly to address future of Irish Catholic Church

Primate says recommendations to be discussed at bishops' confernce this week

The Archbishop of Armagh and Roman Catholic Primate, Eamon Martin, has said that the recommendations made at the weekend's National Synodal Assembly in Gormanston will be brought to this week's meeting of the Bishop's Conference.

Over 300 delegates from across Ireland met at the CityNorth Hotel to consider 35 proposals to guide the future of the Catholic Church in Ireland, following on from the establishment of the Irish Synodal Pathway in 2021, when the bishops of Ireland embarked on a process of renewal, asking people to engage in prayer, listening, and reflection on important questions about the identity and mission of the Church in Ireland, including its pastoral life, structures, and relationships, ministry, and place in society. Fr Declan Hurley, ADM, Navan, is chair of the National Synodal Team.

"Today's gathering concludes a five year-long chapter in the Irish Synodal Pathway," the Archbishop said. "I thank God for all those who have been walking with us: in parishes, prayer groups, religious communities and lay apostolates around the country; in our seminaries, clergy gatherings, and conferences; in homes, schools, community centres and parish halls; at bishops’ assemblies and meetings of many interested groups and lay organisations."

The Irish bishops launched this Synodal Pathway because we believed the 2020’s would be a pivotal decade for the further of the Church on this island, he said.

"The bishops remain committed to this journey which we started. We see the synodal way is a call to pastoral conversion. Today’s Assembly is therefore not the end; it is simply an opportunity to take stock, and to set down some plans for the next phase of our journey together. The proposals today represent a call for greater transparency, participation, co-responsibility and accountability in the Church. They point to the importance of renewal of faith within the domestic church of the family. They suggest ways of connecting with the energy and gifts of our young people, forming and enabling them to be the intentional missionary disciples of today and tomorrow," he continued.

"Several of today’s proposals address the need for healing, restitution and reconciliation for victims and survivors of abuse, recognising the deep wounds of these awful sins and crimes on the whole Body of Christ. Other proposals ask us to honour the contribution of women, to hear their deep concerns, and formally recognise their unique roles in leadership and decision-making. And others again emphasise the need to reach out and hear the voices of those who seem to have left Church behind and in some cases feel ignored, excluded or forgotten."

He said we might ask ourselves: are we doing enough as the Catholic Church in Ireland to show solidarity with the poor and the homeless, with those forgotten on the peripheries of Church and society? How can we better address the legacy of conflict in the north of Ireland which is sadly continuing to cause pain, distrust and division among Christians on this island? In what ways can we present to secular Ireland the message that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person should always be protected?

Fr Declan Hurley said that the emergence of seven priorities from the process was a decisive moment – a hopeful moment for some as they saw issues that really matter to them come to the fore, a painful moment for others as issues that matter deeply to them seemed to fade into the background.

"That has been a key learning for all of us: there have been the challenges of staying together on a long journey of discernment … of managing expectations on one hand and fears on the other … and of trying to stay anchored in a process of prayerful spiritual discernment.

"The identification of the seven priorities allowed us to establish seven Working Groups, comprised of people throughout the Church in Ireland who have knowledge and experience in those areas," he says. "We focus too often on our dwindling resources, but let us acknowledge the wealth of knowledge and experience that is there among us, and the extraordinary generosity of people who give of their time and ability. This was surely the most significant coming together of people in the recent history of the Catholic Church in Ireland to help shape our future. They were given an onerous task, in an impossible timeframe – that has to be acknowledged. But they responded, they fulfilled their task with commitment and expertise, and they demonstrated hope for the future of the Church in Ireland. We owe them an immense debt of gratitude."

Opening the synod in a welcoming address, Bishop Deenihan said that the conversations that were held at the beginning of this process seem a long time ago now.

"The enduring concerns expressed then of a welcoming Church, the creation of vibrant faith communities with shared responsibility, the survival of parishes, evangelisation, handing on the faith to the next generation and reparation for sins and crimes committed against many featured predominantly and, I believe, have shaped Diocesan and Parish Pastoral strategy since then. "

"During that time, fears have been allayed, understandings of the process have grown and Synodality itself seems to have moved from being a sometimes controversially perceived destination to a way of being Church."

Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, addressed the conference in Gormanston.