UK Ordinariate Lays Out Plan for Synodal Path Meetings

The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham announced its plan to engage in the Catholic Church’s preparation process for the global Synod on Synodality, and detailed the steps for how Ordinariate members and communities should participate.

“As a Personal Ordinariate we shall also play our part, arising out of the particular context in which we find ourselves,” Msgr. Keith Newton, ordinary of the U.K. Ordinariate, said in a message posted to the Ordinariate website's dedicated synod page.

“The synodal process is not about an end goal in 2023 with a gathering of bishops in Rome, but about a new way of acting, of being the Church at every level where mutual listening is the cornerstone,” he said. “It is not about endless debating about changing what cannot be changed, but is about the Church gathering together people and their pastors for a common journey.”

According to the Ordinariate website, each group has received a packet of electronic resources. The Ordinariate groups are asked to read first the 2019 Ordinariate vision document “Our Calling & Our Mission” and begin their Synodal Path meetings with prayer.

Each group has a packet of questions to explore under the headings, “Communion,” “Participation,” and “Mission.” Groups are to meet either face-to-face or online, and address these questions, as well as any aspects that are particular to their situation.

The Ordinariate set the deadline for the Pastoral Council discussion as March 5. Within a week, each group then returns their completed packet. On April 1, the draft diocesan report based on these returns is submitted to the Ordinary, Msgr. Newton. The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will then send its final report to the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales by April 22.

“Synod is a Greek word meaning a meeting or assembly,” Father Paul Burch, vicar for evangelization, said in a video introducing the Synodal Path.

“Pope Francis is calling the Church to journey together. Every Catholic is asked to be part of this journey so together we can participate more closely and effectively in the mission of the Church.”

Father Burch said the Synodal Pathway will be an invitation for the Church’s members to listen to each other, and above all to the Holy Spirit.

“As the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, we’ve already begun this process,” he said. “The idea of clergy and laity walking and working together is not something new for us.”

Father Burch pointed to the 2015 report “Growing Up, Growing Out” as a result of extensive listening of the groups of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham around the U.K. The report is reflected in “Our Calling and Our Mission,” which a 10th anniversary document aimed at engaging all the members of the Ordinariate “in the shaping of our future life and mission.”

He noted that some questions each group is asked to discuss involve how is communion expressed between the ordinary, clergy and the laity; to what extent is a person involved in the life of an Ordinariate group and with what responsibility; and how to move their group from maintenance to mission.

Father Burch explained “a synod is intended to be carried out in community, not in isolation,” he said. However, because some members cannot participate in the Ordinariate groups, he said individuals can make contributions through the Ordinariate's website.

All of the group and individual responses would be included in the creation of a summary report that will ultimately be sent to the Catholic Conference of England and Wales. That report, in turn, will be sent to the Vatican for the 2023 Synod of Bishops.

“As Pope Francis has said, what is under discussion at synodal gatherings are not the traditional truths of Christian doctrine; the Synod is mainly concerned with how teaching can be lived and applied in the changing contexts of our times.”

Father Burch added, “This is a process for how people can articulate their thoughts, their aspirations, and their frustrations.” In this way, he said, when the bishops gather in Rome in 2023 to discuss synodality, they will be not just listening to what each other has to say, but “from all the faithful.” 

He concluded with the Prayer to the Holy Spirit that all participants in the Synodal Pathway are encouraged to pray with the whole Church.

SYNOD PRAYER
We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather together in Your name. With You alone to guide us, make Yourself at home in our hearts; Teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it. We are weak and sinful; do not let us promote disorder. Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions. Let us find in You our unity so that we may journey together to eternal life and not stray from the way of truth and what is right. All this we ask of You, who are at work in every place and time, in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever. Amen.

For more information, visit the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham's Synodal Path page here.  

Further reading:
Our Calling and Our Mission

Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham Introduction to Synodal Path Meetings

Ordinariate Discussion Feedback Form
 

Peter Jesserer Smith is the Vice President of the Anglicanorum Coetibus Society and editor of the ACS St. Peter's Rambler.