September 18, 2024
Click here to listen to the YouTube recording of the North American Continental presentation.
Hosted by Garratt Publishing on behalf of ACCCR (the Australasian Coalition for Catholic Church Reform).
Moderator: Christina Reymer (of Be the Change Aotearoa New Zealand)
Panelists (representing all four Bishops’ Conferences in the Federation):
· Kelly Paget of Australia, official delegate of the Synod on Synodality.
· Fr Victor Roche SVD from Papua New Guinea, National Director of Pontifical Mission Societies.
· Manual Beazley, Vicar for Maori from the Diocese of Auckland, New Zealand, also an official delegate of the Synod on Synodality.
· Dr Susan Sela who is from the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, expert for official synod in Rome.
Key Question: What does it mean to become a synodal church in your region? What are the challenges geographically and culturally, and what are the opportunities it presents?
Summation: Dr Elissa Roper (Australia)
Registered: over 1,600 registrants. 489 participants on the night.
Australia presented by Kelly Paget
Kelly has worked in Catholic education and Youth ministry in the Diocese of Broken Bay for most of her career. She has held noteworthy national positions throughout her vocation, including serving on committees for the organization of two Australian Catholic Youth Festivals and the Australian Plenary Council. In 2023, Kelly was amongst five Australians chosen personally by the Holy Father to participate as a non-Bishop member of the official synod. Kelly is a proud and devoted wife and mother, and consistently draws upon her family life experiences, to encompass her ministry to the People of God in the Diocese of Broken Bay.
Kelly described her experience as one of the 96 (54 of them women) non-Bishop members of the Synod as somewhat overwhelming, but was encouraged to regard herself as an equal, and that her voice mattered. Noted too, that many did not know where “Oceania” was, a “continent” dominated by water. She spoke of the Plenary Council that had taken place in Australia 2021-22 following an extensive consultation over 4 years with the people of Australia. The Council had used a synodal method of engagement with lay and clerical from right across all 20 Dioceses of Australia.
Also at the time an important document “The Light from the Southern Cross” was published, promoting co-responsible governance in the Catholic Church in Australia. This document emerges as the way forward following the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Institutional Abuse that has had far reaching implications for all the churches and State in Australia.
Noted that the context of the Plenary Council and this document came “from a moment of crisis” in the church where the effects of abuse had caused deep and far reaching feelings of disillusionment and hurt amongst people the communities affected.
So when the Synod of Synodality was anointed in 2021, Australians were “a little bit exhausted” by this process of yet another call to consultation. This frustration was surrounded by fear on the part of some that “nothing will change” and others that “everything will change”, hence the resistance to any further change.
“Gifts” identified from the Plenary Council is that Australia has experience of synodality working well, of listening to the “Spirit”, and to each other, drawing on strengths and diversity of local characteristics. In Broken Bay Diocese, diocesan and parish councils are established and there is significant effort put into formation of people (lay and clerical) in the various roles of ministry and leadership, all using a synodal model of governance.
A key understanding is that synodality is about relationships, listening to one another, and embracing the diversity and gifts people bring to our experience of being church.
Papua New Guinea presented by Fr. Victor Roche SVD
Fr. Victor Roche SVD is a Divine Word Missionary serving in Papua New Guinea for the past 43 years. He served as the General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands (PNGSI) for 8 years and is now the National Director of Pontifical Mission Societies for PNG and SI. He was the Coordinator of Synodal Process in PNG SI and attended the FCBCO meetings on Synodality in Melbourne and Fiji in 2023.
Fr Victor opened wearing a ceremonial headdress from Manus Province in PNG, something worn by men and women alike, and so was being used as a symbol of synodality. He shared with us reflections from the Synodal “think tank” of the region over the past few years. PNG and Solomon Islands have a combined population of over 14 million people and 22 dioceses, spread over 600 islands in the Western Pacific. While English and Pidgin are spoken widely, there are over 850 indigenous languages, representing an extraordinary cultural diversity. Over 96% is Christian, with the Catholic Church being the largest group of approximately 25%.
Fr Victor made six points in relation to what it means to become a synodal church in this region:
1. The church is our home. We belong by virtue of our common baptism. Communion, participation and mission are our lived experiences at the grassroots level, in villages and communities that have limited access to a priest.
2. Of great concern are the poor and marginalized of our communities -street children, orphans, disabled, elderly, widows, divorcees, prostitutes, criminals, victims of violence and abuse including sorcery, etc.; we need to “extend our tent” to welcome them all.
3. Lay people play an important role in governance and pastoral ministry in the church. An important example is during the Bougainville crisis of the 1990s the lay people kept the faith alive for more than a decade without the support of any priest or bishop.
4. Women are taking a more active role in all aspects of church life, and in society, claiming equality in participation in leadership and ministry.
5. The church is alive. Most churches are full, and vibrant with singing and dancing, participating in Eucharist, embracing traditional cultural life, with active involvement of laity and youth.
6. Synodality is a lived experience, with participation and dialogue at the village level. Perhaps the universal church could take notice of the church on the margins …
The recent visit of Pope Francis was well received and demonstrated that the church is alive and active; WE ARE CHURCH!
Aotearoa New Zealand presented by Manuel Beazley
Manuel is the Vicar for Māori in the Diocese of Auckland and sits on the NZCBC Rōpū Māori, an advisory group to the NZ Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Manuel was also nominated as a non-bishop member of the official Synod in Rome.
Manuel greeted us in the indigenous language of Aotearoa New Zealand, and spoke with reference to the place where the first missionaries came to our country almost 200 years ago, so we are still a relatively young mission country. Manuel spoke of an understanding of synodality as involving
· Walking together,
· Listening, being attentive to promptings of the Spirit in one another
· Planting dreams
· allowing hope to flourish
· trusting one another
· Binding wounds
· weaving relationships
· Awakening a new dawn
· Developing a new vision
· Learning from one another
· Finding ways that will enlighten our minds, stir our hearts, and give strength to our hands.
It involves reaching out to those on the periphery, the marginalised, the excluded to be inclusive and welcoming of all.
He spoke of the importance of good governance structures in our church communities, schools and organizations learning to dialogue in a synodal manner, listening to the marginalized, and being open to embracing new ways of doing things. Equality of women was highlighted as a significant issue in church life, including consideration of ordination of women. It was noted that in recent times the four highest positions in public life (Prime Minister, Governor General, Maori Queen, and Chief Justice) were all held by women. Several other issues were noted, particularly in relation to the importance of the need for formation of lay ministry and leadership as well as reform of seminary training. For some clericalism was identified as a barrier toward transforming parish councils into synodal bodies. Becoming a listening church leads to embracing greater diversity and participation of a wider population, and this needs to be reflected in those governing structures. Co-responsiblity requires one to feel included, and that you belong, and that you matter. Jesus was relational; our church needs to be as well. Reflecting our cultural diversity is an important part of this. Concerns were expressed about the inclusion of people with disabilities, and the lack of young people. Synodality involves a change in mindset, a culture change to complete what was begun with Vatican II and takes the church forward into the 21st century.
Fiji presented by Ms. Susan Sela
Currently Susan works for the University of the South Pacific as Director Pacific Technical and Further Education. This work takes her to the 12 member countries of the University – Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Kiribati, Niue, Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, Tokelau, Fiji and Tuvalu.
She belongs to the Immaculate Conception Parish, Lami (a little town outside of Suva) where she works as one of the Parish Pastoral Council leaders.
In January 2023 she was part of the Discernment Writing group that worked to put together the Ocean response to the Continental Document. In February, she co-chaired the week-long Federation of Catholic Bishop’s Conference with Fr Asaeli Raass SVD.
In July of 2023, she was invited by the Holy Father to be a non-Bishop member of the XVI General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome in 2023 and 2024.
Susan greeted us in the language of Fiji (Bula vanaka) and shared her background picture as one depicting the islands of Nauru where she visited recently to lead workshops on synodality with the local people. She acknowledged the support of Fiji’s Archbishop Peter Loy Chong inviting her to give public lectures on her experience of visiting Rome for the first time last year. Invitations followed from numerous groups within Fiji and further afield throughout the Pacific to nurture the message of synodality. These groups included Parish groups, religious groups, Catholic Women’s’ League, youth groups, and even children, mission groups, spiritual groups etc. People appreciated the visits so much that some groups even determined to fundraise to enable Susan to come back and follow up. They used the process of spiritual conversation and having adopted it, they are now preparing for parish wide spiritual conversations listening to one another, discerning where the Holy Spirit is calling them, to determine what people want and how they want to grow as community. Women and men were trained to lead these groups, using the tools of synodality. The fruits of these gatherings has now taken the form of a strategic plan which they are taking to the Archbishop to implement it.
Susan said it is no surprise that the method of synodality has been adopted so readily as Pacific cultures are communal people, used to meeting to talk things out, and they are also aware of threats to this culture with increasing individualism, increasing discrepancies of wealth within communities, and the increasing prevalence of drugs and alcohol, as well as awareness of violence, particularly against women. Clericalism, including lay clericalism, were also noted as issues that need to be addressed. Other external threats like climate change is also a direct threat to the livelihoods of many vulnerable island nations. The need of all to engage in the issues and “get out of their comfort zones” was emphasized, and the need to “enlarge the space of our tent” to include those who feel marginalized.
Susan reported that Archbishop Peter Chong is a strong advocate of the process of synodality and has taken it to ecumenical groups such as the Fiji Council of Churches. Working with youth is also an active part of his work.
In conclusion, synodality is alive and well in Oceania. People appreciated the opportunity to be heard and took seriously their call to share roles and act co-responsibly, and the opportunity to review existing structures. There is a strong sense of the church being a vehicle for empowerment of peoples to address critical issues and improve the well-being of all. This will require training, formation, and a lot of work, but they are ready for it. Susan noted that is is critical that one has good leadership on the part of the Bishop and priests to work co-responsibly with all the people, women and men, young and old. She emphasized the important role of being a baptized Catholic that calls us to mission, and participation, journeying together as the people of God …a lifelong journey.
Q&A followed with a range of questions regarding the status of women in the church, decolonization, climate change, clericalism etc. A full transcript of the questions is available as a separate document.
Summation offered by Dr. Elissa Roper
Dr Elissa Roper has a PhD from the University of Divinity (in Australia) and specializes in synodality in the Catholic Church. She lives in Australia although her work has taken her further afield, including to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands; a partnership in tertiary theological education between the Sisters of Mercy and the Divine Word University (DWU). She has also been a sessional academic with the Australian Catholic University.
She has provided a theological reflection on “Becoming a more synodal Church” for the Assembly of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences in Oceania, February 2023. She also had a role assisting the Drafting Committee of the Fifth Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in Australia in 2022.
She and her husband have four children [so she’s a lay woman and a mum as well, a voice not often heard in the hallowed halls of synods of the past… we look forward to hearing how you draw together the myriad of voices we have heard this evening and where to from here… ]
Elissa opened with a greeting to the aboriginal people of her region, the Wurundjeri clan.
Key themes coming from all Bishops Conferences reports which we heard echoed today:
· Mission
· formation and resourcing
· Evangelization
· Co-responsibility
· Environment and climate change
Elissa would like to use a key word to summaries’ what we heard about the experience of synodality in each speaker’s region.
For Australia, the key word is process. Australia has taken a formal approach to engaging synodality. This means Australia is well-placed to assist the Synod on Synodality. However,
Elissa picked up on some point made by Kelly, that the people of Australia may be experiencing consultation fatigue after the plenary council and now the Synod of Synodality, but it does mean that the people are ready for “transformation” – which is what synodality is all about.
With respect to synodality in PNG and Solomon Islands, the key phrase is lived experience. The diversity of peoples and cultures was noted as characteristic of the region, and openness to embracing diversity is an important aspect of becoming a synodal church. It came through clearly that in that part of Oceania, synodality is a lived experience, one that resonates with people for whom their faith is an important part of everyday life. This is a region where enculturation of the gospel is a lived experience, not just an idea or aspiration. The role of the church in empowerment of women is significant.
Manuel Beazley demonstrated a quality of attentiveness of the people of Aotearoa NZ, and its colonial history which encapsulates both our ideals and hypocrisy in how we have failed to live its ideals. Relationality between our peoples and within our communities is key to who we are.
The word that stood out with respect to Susan’s presentation for Fiji was energy -how alive in Christ the people of the region are and how active they are in embracing the challenge of becoming a synodal church.
Commenting on journalists’ reporting of the Pope’s recent visit to Indonesia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore, Elissa noticed the word “peripheries” was used a lot in reference to our region. The word “periphery” depends on where you stand. From what we have heard tonight, the church is Oceania is certainly NOT on the periphery of what synodality is all about. Our delegates will be taking what is alive amongst us to Rome, that energy, that attentiveness, and commitment to transformation and the lived experience of our people, and we go with them in Spirit.
Conclusion
With that thought, Christina thanked all the panelists and Elissa, as well as Garratt Publishing for making this event possible, and finally ACCCR for bringing us this informative and inspiring webinar. The journey goes on . . . .
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