Bishop Anthony Randazzo and Broken Bay Chancellor, Kelly Paget, are attending the Synod in Rome with this year’s sessions officially opening on October 4 and will run through to October 29, and be followed up again in October 2024.
Bishop Randazzo is attending the Synod sessions as president of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conference of Oceania Kelly Paget is one of the 10 Oceania non-bishop members appointed by Pope Francis.
Both Bishop Randazzo and the Chancellor flew to Rome on Friday 29 September to join other members, delegates and special invitees for the pre-Synod retreat.
“Communion, participation and mission. These are the three key words of the theme for the Synod in Rome. They are profoundly interrelated and are the vital pillars of a Synodal Church,” Bishop Anthony said before leaving for Rome.
“I am looking forward to discovering more about synodality, which will provide opportunities for the whole community of the Church to discern our vocation as the People of God.
“To participate by praying, listening, dialoguing, and discerning on important pastoral decisions, the Church will better witness to the Gospel.
“Guided by the Holy Spirit we began this process in our parishes, in our Diocese. It is time to continue this journey in Rome.”
Kelly Paget said; “As I’ve been reading and re-reading the Instrumentum Laboris, there is an overwhelming sense that the Holy Spirit is moving through this process, drawing the People of God together in respectful dialogue. How we, as members of the Synod, gather, talk, and, most importantly, listen will be the gift of this particular Synodal gathering.”
For many this Synod stands as a moment in the Church as significant as the convocation of the Second Vatican II.
In a recent reflection, the Vicar General, Very Rev Dr David Ranson said: "While the Synod is not a Council, and therefore does not possess the same legislative capability of an Ecumenical Council, it presents as one of the most defining events to shape ecclesiology since 1965."
The Vicar General’s full article can be read
here.
The Diocese of Broken Bay’s Synodal Journey began nearly six years ago.
Follow the journey
here.