The Diocese of Limerick is leading the way as it begins an 18 month period of reflection and listening to build towards the first Synod held in Ireland since the 1950s and the first in the diocese in more than 70 years.
Announced by Bishop Brendan Leahy at a Youth Mass at St. Joseph’s Hall, St. Joseph’s Parish in the heart of Limerick City, the Synod will be a three day-meeting of 400 delegates in Spring 2016 “that will set out a path to enable the Diocese to meet the many challenges it faces going forward and ensure it can deliver, with a sense of renewal as well as partnership among all in the diocese, the message, ministry and mission needed for the future,” the statement announcing the Synod said.
Between now and the official Synod launch on Sunday, December 7 the Diocese will be identifying the 400 Synod delegates, who will be drawn from across the Dioceses and will collectively embark with the delegates on a process that will set out the key issues for consideration at the gathering in Spring 2016.
Bishop Leahy has appointed Fr. Éamonn Fitzgibbon, Episcopal Vicar, as Director of the Synod. Fr Fitzgibbon will co-ordinate the preparation for the Synod as well as the Synod event itself. He will also engage in a process of arranging for the selection of delegates for the Synod.
Announcing the Synod, Bishop Leahy, said that the gathering will be true to the meaning of the word ‘Synod’, which is ‘journeying together’.
“Between the launching of the Synod and the 2016 gathering there will be a vast process of reflection and sharing, catechesis and prayer, out of which we will identify the issues that will be discussed at the Synod. I hope that as many as possible throughout the Diocese will be involved.
“For the Synod to be the journey it needs to be, we must all travel together. Everyone has an opinion worth listening to and we must listen before we can learn,” he said.
Bishop Leahy added: “We will be opening a website for the Synod. I invite all send in observations or suggestions. And by ‘all’ I mean people of deep faith but also those who might consider they do not have deep faith or seldom take part in worship or feel they have lost their faith”.
