A contingent of 24 Australians is in Rome to celebrate the Church’s commitment to walking together in hope and mission. Source: ACBC Media Blog.
The men and women from across the nation are attending events being held to mark the Jubilee of Synodal Teams and Participatory Bodies, including an audience with Pope Leo XIV on Saturday.
Pope Leo welcomed about 2000 members of synodal teams and participatory bodies in the Paul VI Audience Hall in the Vatican.
The Pope expressed hope the Church in Oceania would continue to grow in communion through the spirit of synodality and stressed the urgency of action to address climate change, poverty and injustice.
Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, led a seminar which looked at authentic synodal decision-making processes.
He noted Pope Leo, reflecting on the work of Pope Francis, had described synodality as “a style, an attitude that helps us to be Church by promoting authentic experiences of participation and communion”.
“A truly synodal Church … cannot, or at least should not, be divided into active members and passive members; into those who give and those who receive; into those who act and those who are acted upon,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
“Rather, every member of the Church is meant to be an ‘actor’ in the lives of others and equally someone who is willingly acted upon by others.”
Archbishop Costelloe said examining structure should not occur without also looking at “culture”.
“If you put all your energy and time into the reform of structures without also, and even more insistently, putting energy and time into the question of culture, then in fact very little will change,” he said.
“We must, I believe, keep a number of fundamental things in mind, and first among them is the question of fidelity to the gospel and to our fundamental identity as disciples of Christ.
“Our task is not to remake the Church but to play our part in ensuring that the Church is faithful to its Lord: that we are faithful to the Lord. One of the essential dimensions of that fidelity is our recognition that the Church is fundamentally missionary in nature.”
The activities during the jubilee celebration also included a pilgrimage and walk through the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica, workshops, a Marian prayer vigil and a Mass presided by Pope Leo.
FULL STORY
Australians gather in Rome for Synod reflection (ACBC Media Blog)
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