After synodal assembly Europe’s bishops pledge to ‘work tirelessly’ to enlarge Catholic tent

Sarah Mac Donald reports: NCR Online (link below)

“Something special happened here,” Archbishop Eamon Martin, president of the Irish bishops’ conference, said at the close of a continental assembly of the European Catholic Church held this month as part of Pope Francis’ ongoing process to reinvigorate the Synod of Bishops.

As in-person participants, among them the representatives of 39 bishops’ conferences across Europe, filed out of the assembly venue in the Czech Republic capital of Prague, the leader of the Irish church said 

in a video statement 

that there had been “huge diversity, a huge range of opinions” and “a strong acceptance that the body of Christ is wounded and in need of healing in so many ways.”

The Prague assembly is one of seven continental assemblies taking place in February and March in preparation for the first of two back-to-back gatherings of the Catholic Synod of Bishops, to be held in Rome in October 2023 and October 2024.

The Prague gathering was divided into two parts. The first stage, from Feb. 6-9, saw some 600 members of the laity, priests and bishops come together in person and online. One hundred and fifty-six of the 200 in-person participants were delegates of the various European bishops’ conferences. 390 participants took part online; 10 delegates for each of the 39 European conferences.

Link to full article:

https://www.ncronline.org/news/after-synodal-assembly-europes-bishops-pledge-work-tirelessly-enlarge-catholic-tent

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Chris McDonnell writing in the Catholic Times about the crisis in which the church is mired states “First of all, we cannot expect, nor should we presume, that the bishops can achieve change by carefully chosen phrases and pious pleasantries. There must be deep and meaningful exchange with the laity, using the latter’s experience and expertise to inform and develop a satisfactory strategy. Ownership by all achieves more than the instruction from a selected group.
Secondly, we must ensure that women are allowed and encouraged to participate fully in such developments……….The singular male voice has dominated for too long and the story that has been told has been incomplete. Maybe now, at long last, change will be forced upon us and we will recognise that appreciation of the broader picture will only come when the response is from both men and women.”

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