An initial two-year phase is earmarked for embarking on a synodal pathway and will prepare the ground for a national synod. It will coincide with preparation for the 2022 Ordinary General Assembly of Bishops in Rome entitled: “For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission”. At the summer general meeting next June, the bishops intend to establish a task group to oversee the first steps along the synodal pathway. The group will be made up of lay women and men, including young people, Religious, priests and bishops. From 6 April, an online page will be available on the bishops’ conference website for suggestions.
The reform group We Are Church Ireland welcomed the decision to hold a national synodal assembly and the call for submissions for a new Lectionary, but said the national synod should take place within the next three years, not five years.
Spokesman Colm Holmes said that the issues that the national synodal assembly needed to address were the same issues being discussed in the Amazon, Germany, Australia and else- where: new governance structures to de-clericalise the institutional Church and reflect the inclusive message of the Gospel; equality for women and LGBTQ+ people; and the opening up of all renewed ministries to all baptised.
The group planned to make a submission on the new Lectionary for Ireland “in favour of inclusive rather than sexist language”.
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