This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the mission of the Church. Pope Francis has invited Catholics throughout the world to listen prayerfully to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. We are then called to share our insights with our Bishop Marcus Sock, who after reviewing the feedback, will submit a summary document to the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. This is expected to happen before Christmas.

As a parish,  (and indeed the Church) we are being asked to explore ten themes. These cover many of the issues within our Church today. We don't have to answer every single one, but there is a unifying theme to follow: how can the Church better exercise her role of offering hope to ALL the people of this generation?

Pope Francis is using this unique worldwide listening exercise to prepare for a Synod of Bishops which is expected to take place in Rome in 2023.  Bishop Marcus Stock will use the material which the process will generate in our own Diocese to devise and facilitate a pastoral plan.

It is clear that the purpose of this Synod is not to produce more documents. Rather, it is intended to inspire people to dream about the Church we are called to be, to make people’s hopes flourish, to stimulate trust, to bind up wounds, to weave new and deeper relationships, to learn from one another, to build bridges, to enlighten minds, warm hearts, and restore strength to our hands for our common mission (PD, 32). 

Thus the objective of this Synodal Process is not only a series of exercises that start and stop but rather a journey of growing authentically towards the communion and mission that God calls the Church to live out in the third millennium. And so we are beginning this journey by inviting you our community(our family) to participate in this new mission.

We see throughout the Gospels how Jesus reaches out to all. He does not only save people individually but as a people that he gathers together, as the one Shepherd of the entire flock (cf. John 10:16). 

The ministry of Jesus shows us that no one is excluded from God’s plan of salvation.

In this light, our objective is to consult the People of God so that the Synodal Process is carried out through listening to all the baptized.  Pope Francis is inviting us to participate in this Synodal Process including; those on the margins, the handicapped, refugees, migrants, the elderly, people who live in poverty, Catholics who are resting (lapsed) or have left the church.  Also, it is important that we hear the voices of our children and young people

The Church is Catholic because she is sent to all, in order to gather the entire human family from every nation and culture, under the Lordship of Christ and in the unity of his Spirit.

By His gracious will, God gathers us together as diverse peoples of one faith, through the covenant that He offers to His people. The communion we share finds its deepest roots in the love and unity of the Trinity. It is Christ who reconciles us to the Father and unites us with each other in the Holy Spirit. 

Together, we are inspired by listening to the Word of God, through the living Tradition of the Church, and grounded in the sensus fidei [sense of faith] that we share. 

We all have a role to play in discerning and living out God’s call for his people.

A call for the involvement of all who belong to the People of God – laity, consecrated and ordained – to engage in the exercise of deep and respectful listening to one another. 

This listening creates space for us to hear the Holy Spirit together, and guides our aspirations for the Church of the Third Millennium. Participation is based on the fact that all the faithful are qualified

and are called to serve one another through the gifts they have each received from the Holy Spirit. 

In a synodal Church the whole community, in the free and rich diversity of its members, is called together to pray, listen, analyse, dialogue, discern and offer advice on making pastoral decisions that correspond as closely as possible to God’s will. Genuine efforts must be made to ensure the involvement of those at the margins or who feel excluded.

The Church exists to evangelise. We can never be centred on ourselves. Our mission is to witness the love of God in the midst of the whole human family.  

This Synodal Process has a deep missionary dimension to it. It is intended to enable the Church to better witness to the Gospel, especially with those who live on the spiritual, social, economic, political, geographical, and existential peripheries of our world. 

In this way, synodality is a path by which the Church can more fruitfully fulfil her mission of evangelisation in the world, as a leaven at the service of the coming of God’s kingdom.