The Very Reverend Dr David Ranson, Vicar General for the Diocese of Broken Bay, has continued to labour in Rome, representing Australia and the Diocese at the International meeting of Parish Priests.
The parish priests had a long day on Tuesday, beginning with 8:00am morning prayer and concluding at 11:00pm with only meal breaks in between.
Most of the day was spent in small groups, with a focus on charisms, vocations and ministries, focusing on the questions: “In my ministry as a parish priest, how have I experienced the participation of different charisms, vocations, ministries in the parish and diocese? What insights and questions have they occasioned in me? In my local context, what significant experiences have we had of parish communities contributing to the life and mission of the local Church to which they belong? What have we learned from these experiences?”
Fr David remarked on the diversity of the experiences of many of the priests present at the meeting.
“The diversity of experience is remarkable: one priest from Brazil spoke of how he has 72 churches in his parish, and at each church is a community,” he said.
“A German priest spoke of his disillusionment at maintaining a community of but 30 persons.”
The celebration of the Eucharist for the day was unique too. It was celebrated in the Armenian Rite, by Fr Rafi Ouhanessian from the Patriarchate of Cilicia of the Armenians, with insertions of Italian and the homily preached in French.
Fr David said the meetings had given him a renewed spirit of what synodality truly means.
“Through all of this, I have begun to realise that synodality is a great deal more than ‘meetings’,” he said.
“It is a way of ministering, a way of enlivening an entire community through engagement of people’s charisms. And it begins in the way that priests care for one another. Synodality must really be grounded in how we honour each other and call forth one another’s discipleship.”
Fr David wrote to the people of the Diocese of Broken Bay after the second day of meetings. A full copy of his letter is available here.