The Plymouth Diocese held a pre-synodal meeting of Parish representatives last week, and is now in the process of preparing the Diocesan ‘synthesis’ to go forward for discernment by the Conference of Bishops. Guidance from the Vatican suggests that the synthesis should indicate “how the Holy Spirit’s call to the Church has been understood in the local context” and pay attention not only to common trends but also to discordant points of view and voices “because the process of discernment could recognize them as prophetic voices that indicate what the Spirit is asking of the Church.” This is not an easy task and the Diocesan team have asked for our prayers and support as they seek to do this.
Synod: “Quo Vadimus?”
“Is this it, now we’ve had our say? I have no sense whatsoever of ‘Where do we go from here as a parish community’, of any kind of Diocesan lead?” (name given)
The above reader’s comments echo those of other readers in both Truro and other parishes, reflecting a sense of unease at the prospect — after all the prayer, discernment and effort expended in examining our local situations so far — of being left in limbo for 2-3 years. The PORTICO is not privy to any plans at diocesan or parish level, but we recall Bishop Mark saying that the Diocese is already making a start on our synodal journey via his “A Precious Place” initiative which both he and Canon Deeny have stressed remains a key point of reference. We pray that what we have done is but the first tentative step in a brisk thousand-mile synodal journey!
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