HOPE is the word on everyone’s lips as SYNOD24 closes its first day for Brisbane archdiocese today.
Synod member Jan Heath said coming out of her first session with the “Conversation in the Spirit”, she felt “a lot of anticipation and hope for what the Holy Spirit is doing in the Church”.
She said the energy in the room was “absolutely buzzing”.
“The organisation has been absolutely fantastic; it’s well organised, it’s professional but at the same time there’s a sense of people sharing from their hearts,” she said.
“(People are) sharing from their hearts – their relationships with Jesus, their hopes for the future, the absolute sense of calmness was a sign to us that the Holy Spirit is really at work here.”
Day one began with a Mass in Holy Spirit Chapel celebrated by Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge and concelebrated by auxiliary Bishop Tim Norton with many clergy of the archdiocese and religious orders.
In his homily, Archbishop Coleridge said, echoing the words of Pope Francis, that a synod was not a parliament “where power prevails by vote of the majority”.
“That would be putting new wine into old wineskins – all would be lost,” he said.
“What we are doing is something much more mysterious; it is of God.
“For the cellar of the Church to be properly stocked for the feast, we need wine both new and old.”
After the Mass, Synod members processed to Xavier Hall at Holy Spirit Seminary to listen to workshops about the historical context of the archdiocese, about the universal development of the synodal Church and about how SYNOD24 would run.
The first Conversation in the Spirit was a chance for people to practice how the spiritual conversations would work.
Synod members Mary To and Liliana Ortiz said they both felt the Holy Spirit moving in the conversations they had at the round tables in the morning.
“I think it is always challenging, personally, for me to be able to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit through the voices of the different members of the group,” Ms Ortiz said.
“It requires discernment.
“Everyone in the group, we’re committed to trusting in the process, to approach everyone with respect – respect what everyone’s sharing – we are full of hope and we believe we are going to be able to come up with some concrete actions to see more changes in our Church.”
Ms To agreed and said she was overjoyed to see so much fellowship within Brisbane’s archdiocese.
“My hope is for the unity, for the commitment of each individual person; together we are one Church, we are one body in Christ,” she said.
Synod writing team member Chantale Wilson said the first part of the morning session, which included icebreakers and time for Synod members to get to know each other, was important.
“A lot of how this synod will play out is around relationships, community and how we move forward together,” she said.
“Obviously everyone has their questions and what they brought with them, but largely the talk – at our table – was around being ready to trust God, being ready to hold our agendas lightly and really be ready to listen to one another.”
Synod member Stewart England said he hoped the synod would create a vision that included young people’s voices.
Synod member Tony Jojo said the mood at his table was “cautious yet excited”.
He said there was some hesitancy about how it would all play out over the course of the two days, and the two days in October, but there was a strong sense of optimism.
Synod member Deacon Gary Stone said there was a strong desire in his group to see positive outcomes.
“I thought going into it there might be… conflict, but certainly the people I’ve engaged with are wanting to work towards moving together positively – which I know the Spirit will bless,” he said.
“All the people who have come here really want to do something positive for the mission of God.
“What a wonderful group to be part of.”
First voting session
After the first Conversation in the Spirit, the Synod members broke for lunch and returned to listen to Fr Orm Rush discuss his expert take on synodality.
Shortly after, the synod unpacked their first Plenary Council decree – “Decree Two – choosing repentance, seeking healing”.
The decree addressed the sexual abuse crisis and the synod discussed three actions on the decree.
The first action was about addressing the crisis, in dialogue with survivors, through truth-telling and story-telling sessions in safe spaces and supporting research and programs related to trauma.
The first action was endorsed by the synod with 108 endorsements and 13 challenges.
The third action was about implementing creative processes, in dialogue with survivors, that seek forgiveness for the failings.
The third action was endorsed by the synod with 102 endorsements and 19 challenges.
The second action was about Safeguarding Sunday and how to properly recognise safeguarding within faith communities.
The second action was challenged and did not proceed to a formal vote.
As per the synod process, the second action would be rewritten and represented to the synod.
Coming out of the first voting session, Synod member Fr Michael Grace said he felt positive about the experience even though it was a challenging and multifaceted topic.
“There was a sense that we all need to do something; there’s some difference around what that should be exactly, but there was a lot more agreement than there was disagreement,” he said.
“To have two action items pass was wonderful and I hope with a bit of (rewriting) the second one will pass as well.”
Synod member Ursuline Sister Mel Williams said the conversations in the Spirit looked simple on paper, but in practice, they involved lots of people sharing from different backgrounds and points of view.
“The sharing is terrific,” she said, “people are really listening to each other.”
“We did have some contrary views, but… they were views that were very genuine and they came from such diverse experiences that they were really valuable.”
Synod member and table facilitator Kym Keady said she could tell her table members were discerning the actions deeply.
“My hope is we come up with actions that we actually action,” she said.
She said her experience in the Plenary Council felt different because there were people coming from all over the country.
“It’s good to be with the people in our archdiocese… it feels like family,” she said.
“Even though we are diverse, we are very accepting of each other and we are very open to what each other are saying; I think the synod team has worked hard to include a lot of people and make it a warm, welcoming, family environment.”
Synod member Fr Josh Whitehead said the last session was “an eyeopener”.
“I can only put my own hand up and say I didn’t know what to expect going into this,” he said.
“But it was edifying to experience the voting process and perhaps even more than that, the conversations in the Spirit, listening deeply to people at the table, cultivating a sense of belonging and identity in the group.”
He said the process of the synod had been robust and most importantly – “it works”.
More to follow tomorrow.
