Three Australians have been named among the members of Vatican-appointed study groups looking at questions such as women deacons, the ministry of bishops, and synodal formation for priests from last year’s Synod on Synodality assembly. Source: CNA.
They include Sandhurst Bishop Shane Mackinlay, theologian Fr Ormond Rush and social justice expert Sandie Cornish.
Some of the study groups were formed at the request of Pope Francis, who asked the dicasteries of the Roman Curia to collaborate with the General Secretariat of the Synod to deepen the theological, pastoral, and canonical reflections on certain themes that emerged during the synodal assembly in October 2023.
Additional study groups were also created to provide deeper theological analysis of “five perspectives” ahead of the second session of the synod, to be held at the Vatican in October.
The Instrumentum Laboris, the guiding document for the October 2024 assembly, makes reference to these study groups throughout.
The groups “are entrusted with the task of delving into 10 themes emerging from the [summary report of the first session] and identified by the Pope at the end of an international consultation. These study groups, made up of pastors and experts from all continents, use a synodal working method,” the document said.
Dr Cornish, who is professor of Social Doctrine of the Church in the Australian Catholic University and member of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, was appointed a member of the group studying: Listening to the cry of the poor.
Bishop Mackinlay was appointed to the group studying: The synodal missionary face of Church groupings.
And Fr Rush, professor of theology in the Australian Catholic University and consultant to the General Secretariat of the Synod, was appointed to the group studying: The synodal method.
FULL STORY
These are the members of the Synod on Synodality study groups (By Hannah Brockhaus, Catholic News Agency)
