Julieann Moran’s Synodal Pathway Update: Letter from Cardinal Grech
| Letter to the Bishops and the People of God |
| Letter: Via della Conciliazione, 34 – 00120 Città del Vaticano Tel.: (+39) 06 698.84324/84821 – Fax: (+39) 06 698.83392 E-mail: synodus@synod.va – https://www.synod.va SECRETARIA GENERALIS SYNODI Letter on the Accompaniment Process of the Implementation Phase of the Synod Vatican, 15 March 2025 Prot. No. 250062 Your Beatitude, Eminence, Excellency, Dear Brother in Christ, in a spirit of communion and co-responsibility, I write to you and to the holy People of God entrusted to your care regarding the implementation phase of the Synod «For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission». The Holy Father hopes that this phase, as outlined in the Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis Communio (n. 7, arts. 19-21), receives particular attention so that synodality is increasingly understood and lived as an essential dimension of the ordinary life of local Churches and the entire Church. On 11 March, the Holy Father definitively approved the start of a process of accompaniment and evaluation of the implementation phase by the General Secretariat of the Synod. This process calls upon Dioceses and Eparchies, Episcopal Conferences, and the hierarchical structures of the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as their continental groupings. They will be responsible for engaging institutes of consecrated life, societies of apostolic life, lay associations, ecclesial movements, and new communities present in their territories. It will ultimately culminate in the celebration of an ecclesial assembly in the Vatican in October 2028. For now, therefore, a new Synod will not be convened; instead, the focus will be on consolidating the path taken so far. In the Accompanying Note to the Final Document of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the Holy Father had already specified that it «is part of the ordinary magisterium of the Successor of Peter» and and, as such, must be received accordingly. He went on to explain that it is not strictly normative but nonetheless calls on the Churches to make consistent choices. In particular, «the local Churches and groupings of Churches are now called upon to implement, in their different contexts, the authoritative proposals contained in the Document through the processes of discernment and decision-making provided for by law and by the Document itself». To the Patriarchs and Major Archbishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches To all Bishops and Eparchs To the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences To the Presidents of the International Meetings of Episcopal Conferences In light of these indications, therefore, the implementation phase of the Synod should be understood not as merely the “application” of directives from above, but rather as a process of “reception” of the orientations expressed in the Final Document, adapted appropriately to local cultures and the needs of communities. At the same time, it is essential to move forward together as the whole Church, harmonizing this reception across different ecclesial contexts. This is the reason for the process of accompaniment and evaluation, which in no way diminishes the responsibility of each Church. In line with the indications of the Final Document, the aim is to concretely realize the perspective of the exchange of gifts between Churches and within the whole Church concrete (cf. nn. 120-121). Along the way, everyone will be able to benefit from the richness and creativity of the paths taken by local Churches, gathering the fruits in their territorial groupings (Provinces, Episcopal Conferences, International Meetings of Episcopal Conferences, etc.). The process will also be an opportunity to evaluate together the choices made at the local level and recognize the progress made in terms of synodality (cf. n. 9). Thanks to this process, the Holy Father will be able to listen to and confirm the orientations deemed valid for the whole Church (cf. nn. 12 and 131). Finally, this process provides the framework within which to place the many and diverse initiatives for implementing the orientations of the Synod, particularly the results of the work of the Study Groups and the contributions of the Canonical Commission. It is of fundamental importance to ensure that the implementation phase serves as an opportunity to re-engage the people who have contributed and to present the fruits gathered from listening to all the Churches and the discernment of the Pastors in the Synodal Assembly: thus, the dialogue already initiated in the listening phase will continue. The process will rely on the work of synodal teams composed of priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, laymen and laywomen, accompanied by their bishop: these are fundamental tools for accompanying the ordinary synodal life of local Churches. For this reason, existing teams should be valued and possibly renewed, idle teams should be reactivated and appropriately integrated. This process will also offer Dioceses that have invested less in the synodal path an opportunity to recover the steps not yet taken and to form their own synodal teams. I invite you to communicate to the Secretariat of the Synod the composition and references of the synodal team of your Diocese or Eparchy, using the form available in the attachment. In this context, the announcement of the Jubilee of synodal teams and participatory bodies to be held on 24-26 October 2025, takes on particular significance, thus placing the commitment to building a Church that is increasingly synodal within the horizon of the hope that does not disappoint, which we celebrate in the Jubilee. The journey that will lead the whole Church to the celebration of the ecclesial assembly in October 2028 will be structured in such a way as to offer adequate and sustainable times for the implementation of the Synod’s indications, while also providing for some significant moments of evaluation: March 2025: announcement of the accompaniment and evaluation process; May 2025: publication of the Support Document for the implementation phase, with guidelines for its conduct; June 2025 – December 2026: implementation paths in local Churches and their groupings; 24-26 October 2025: Jubilee of synodal teams and participatory bodies; first half of 2027: evaluation Assemblies in Dioceses and Eparchies; second half of 2027: evaluation Assemblies in national and international Episcopal Conferences, Eastern hierarchical structures, and other groupings of Churches; first half of 2028: continental evaluation Assemblies; June 2028: publication of the Instrumentum laboris for the works of the ecclesial Assembly in October 2028; October 2028: celebration of the ecclesial Assembly in the Vatican. As of now, the General Secretariat of the Synod is committed to accompanying and supporting the Churches on this journey. Your Beatitude, Eminence, Excellency, With this letter, I am informing you of the start of this journey before it is made public. Until then, the information contained in this letter should be considered confidential. By the end of May, we will send further communications to the Churches with more details regarding the methodology and operational procedures of the journey. Without the impetus of diocesan and eparchial bishops, a process like the one outlined here would not even be imaginable. As of now, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you, your collaborators, and your synodal team for your commitment to advancing a journey that is particularly close to the Holy Father’s heart, for whose health we are all praying together in these weeks. I greet you fraternally in the Lord, wishing you and the Church of which you are Pastor a fruitful journey toward the upcoming Easter. Mario Card. GRECH Secretary General |
| Spring Gatherings Continue |
| The spring gatherings across dioceses and parishes are still underway, providing an opportunity for communities to engage with the themes that emerged from the synodal process and discern priorities for the future. These gatherings play a vital role in shaping discussions for the national pre-assembly in October 2025, as well as guiding local implementation of synodal insights. To learn more about upcoming gatherings in your area, please contact your diocesan office. More information and resources for the gatherings is also available on our website at www.synod.ie |
“… the implementation phase of the Synod should be understood not as merely the ‘application’ of directives from above, but rather as a process of ‘reception’ of the orientations expressed in the Final Document, adapted appropriately to local cultures and the needs of communities.”
And, yes, although that Final Document did fudge and shelve too many things there are indeed ‘orientations’ to be welcomed – especially the insistence that Baptism is ‘the foundation of Christian life’ (21) and that ‘there is nothing higher than this baptismal dignity’. That tells me I have all the dignity I need to be a brass-neck (i.e. totally unqualified) theologian here.
Does the addition of document after document to the Synodality pile help or hinder in persuading the merely baptised that they too can be heralds of the Good News? In the end ‘cutting to the chase’ will be the task of facilitators already under training for the next phase of Ireland’s Synodal Pathway – and I have a sense that this will happen if they can simply speak of their own experience of the church as a ‘field hospital’.
‘Formation’ for me personally has had more to do with unexpected catastrophes than with Catechisms and formal training days – and this has led me to my own brass-neck theology of the cross. While there are ways of defending St Anselm those defences fall far short of the description ‘exciting’ – and we need to rediscover excitement. For me the Creed is also a Catastrophe Narrative – a story of apparent ‘game over’ when the game was only beginning – and the game is to overthrow the verdicts of the world, as Jesus did.
Those verdicts rest always on the mistake that Jesus pinpoints in today’s Gospel – of ‘looking to one another for Glory’ – of supposing that the currently most fashionable ideas and people are the ones to kow-tow to – as though we poor humans are indeed capable of judging anyone, or any question, justly.
And just as the Jesus catastrophe story persuaded St Paul that instead the ideas and great men of the moment were ‘passing away’ – to be replaced by a New Creation – so do we today need to be convinced today that the verdicts of the world on the church are time-bound and passing away, to an always new creation.
Catastrophe, far from being the end of everything, is instead an essential part of the formation process. Every ‘crash’ liberates us from the prison built by our ego – that part of us that looks to one another for glory – making us realise how much we need one another – and that we can rely upon one another also.
An experience of cancer was one of those catastrophes for me – but there have been worse – and in all of them prayer was availing. I could now do with fewer of them, but knowing what to do now – just to pray – means everything.
As the world’s greatest ‘Catastrophe Narrative’ the Creed can be, for everyone, a Passport through Catastrophe. I can tell anyone still in the throes of catastrophe that this belief has been ‘proof tested’. How’s that for brass-neck theology?