Working Document for the National Synodal Assembly 2026 Published
The Working Document for the Irish National Synodal Assembly, which will take place in Gormanston, Co. Meath, on Saturday 17th October 2026, has now been published.
Entitled “Is not this what God asks of you?” the document brings together the fruits of five years of prayer, listening and discernment along the Irish Synodal Pathway. It will form the basis for the prayer, conversation, discernment and deliberation of delegates as they prepare for and participate in the National Synodal Assembly.
Nominated delegates are being asked to engage carefully and prayerfully with the Working Document before coming to Gormanston and, as far as possible, to gather with others in their local context to reflect together on the proposals it contains.
But this is not a document for Assembly delegates only.
The Working Document belongs within the wider journey of the Irish Synodal Pathway and reflects the voices, hopes, concerns and discernment of people and communities from across the Church in Ireland. We therefore warmly invite everyone to read it, pray with it and reflect on the question that has accompanied the Synodal Pathway from the beginning:
“What does God want from the Church in Ireland at this time?”
The National Synodal Assembly is an important moment on that journey, but the work of becoming a more synodal and missionary Church belongs to all of us.
“Place the family at the centre of faith formation.”
This proposal for the Synodal Assembly on Saturday 17th October occurs not in the final working document, but in the earlier report from the ‘Family’ working group, one of seven reports that are also linked as appendices to ‘What does God want from the Church in Ireland at this time?’
This linkage is a welcome example of transparency for those who wish to study the genesis of the final working document – which proposes five ‘pathways’ to cover the seven priorities selected for study (Faith Formation and Catechesis; Family; Belonging; Co-responsibility and Lay Ministry; Healing; Women; Youth.)
The trajectory implied by the proposal to make the family central to faith formation is well supported by the report of the working group on Faith Formation and Catechesis – which proposes that:
“This Assembly recommends that parishes and local faith communities are reclaimed as spaces where faith formation is central, holistic, lifelong, relational, and co-responsible.”
We also get, in the section supporting a Pathway of ‘Accompaniment’:
“This Assembly recommends that the relevant agencies of the Irish Episcopal Conference develop a strategy for the provision of home-based faith tools.”
A clear trajectory is therefore visible of recognising the radical insufficiency of school-centric faith formation and catechesis, and of empowering those with family charge of children and young people to exercise their proper responsibilities and charisms in this regard. ‘A fundamental catechetical review’ is also proposed that could potentially tackle the central missionary challenge of removing all obstacles to the understanding of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as fully united in liberation of the human family from everything that currently threatens us.
There are shortcomings in the final working document – e.g. when it comes to squarely recognising the canonical challenges that still hamper synodal co-responsibility at the level of parish pastoral councils and the barriers to ‘Healing’ that can only be removed at the international episcopal level – but these need not prevent the Assembly on Oct 17th from becoming a milestone in the restoration and recovery of the Irish Catholic Church.