As someone who is serving as a bishop in today’s Ireland, I am painfully aware that many people no longer look to the Church as being significant in their lives in the way they once did. From my experience of pastoral ministry for over 28 years, I am also mindful of the existential questions deep within many hearts at this time of volatility in the world and our society.
In response to these realities, the Irish Catholic Bishops in 2021 invited people to reflect upon the question: “What is God asking of the Church in Ireland at this time?” It was envisaged that the Irish Church would explore this question and it would lead to an assembly or assemblies where the fruits of the reflection could be teased out together and guide us along the road of renewal.
Coincidentally, shortly after the Irish Bishops’ announcement, the late Pope Francis called on the Universal Church to set out on the Synodal Pathway under the headings, “Communion, Participation and Mission”.
The word “synodal” has been somewhat difficult to grapple with as it is unfamiliar language to many. In essence, it means “walking together”. By calling on the Universal Church to “walk together” on this journey, Pope Francis invited us, as brothers and sisters in Christ, to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit and discern how we can enter into deeper communion with one another and to encourage more participation in the life of the Church.
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All of this was to be carried out in the context of the mission given to each one of us in Baptism. Even though many saw this as something new, in essence Pope Francis’s dream of a synodal Church was not something novel, as it is firmly rooted in the vision of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). One of the major themes emerging out of the Council was the model of Church as the “people of God”. “Synodality” is a living out of this model in the day-to-day reality of the Church’s life and mission.
With this as a backdrop, over the past four years the Irish Church and the Universal Church have been on a journey of renewal. Numerous gatherings have been held across every Irish diocese and various other groupings. These gatherings have been carried out in a prayerful way in an attempt to listen deeply to where the Holy Spirit is calling us, the people of God, as we try to respond to the call of the Gospel today.
The fruit of what emerged from this extended period of reflection and prayer can be found in the Irish Synodal Pathway’s document, Baptised and Sent. This was discussed by a gathering of 240 lay, religious and clerical delegates from the four corners of the country last weekend at a pre-Synodal assembly in Kilkenny. It affirms the many challenges we face but also the great possibilities.
Baptised and Sent identifies recurring themes in our conversations. These include the wound of abuse and the demand for real healing and accountability; the call of women and men for leadership roles and a recognition of women’s gifts in the life of the Church; the alienation of young people, many of whom find our liturgies wearisome and our witness unconvincing; the discomfort, and sometimes exclusion, felt by LGBTQ+ people; the fatigue of priests carrying too much on ageing shoulders; and the gnawing sense of a Church that has struggled to speak credibly into the public square and secular culture.
In response, some within the Church are calling for radical reform, while others prioritise caution and fidelity to more traditional ways. Between invitation and expectation, between renewal and continuity, the tension is real.
However, Baptised and Sent offers us hope. It proposes Baptism as the great unifying paradigm; the truth that every Christian, lay or ordained, is equally valued, called and sent on mission. Flowing from this, seven Spirit-led priorities have emerged from our four years of listening to and reflecting with people in our parishes. Namely, they are: belonging, co-responsibility and lay ministry, family, formation and catechesis, healing, women, and youth.
These priorities point to a Church that is faithful to the mission given to it by Jesus Christ. They point to a Church that welcomes, that listens, that challenges, that shares leadership, that accompanies families, that forms disciples, that heals wounds, that cherishes and empowers women and men and engages with young people.
Our recent gathering in Kilkenny was another step on this journey together, challenging us to respond to these priorities with courage. It was a prelude to the first National Synodal Assembly which will take place in October, 2026.
Karl Rahner, the late German theologian, reminds us: “Any attempt to look into the future is difficult and inevitably comes up against what is obscure and vague; but such a look into the distance is necessary if we are not to be cowards, remaining comfortably stuck in the present and only passively awaiting the future. But this glance into the future can be one of faith and hope.”
As the Irish Catholic Church glances into the future, may it do so with courage, “without remaining comfortably stuck in the present”. We are called as a community of disciples to set out without fear, to rediscover the joy and the challenge of the Gospel.
May this continuing journey of renewal, despite its struggles, questions and sometimes frustrations, enable us to witness Christ’s message of love, hope and joy in the new reality of today. As we take this road together, may it open up new possibilities for mission and engagement with faith in a world where many are asking soul-searching questions in a fragmented age.
Bishop Paul Dempsey is Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin
