WelCom, September 2024
Archbishop Paul Martin sm, Archbishop of Wellington
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
At the end of this month I will be returning to Rome for the second session of the Synod on Synodality. Those who attended last year are required to be there again. It will be good to reconnect with people I met last year and with whom I spent the month in prayer, discernment and discussion. Fr Dennis Nacorda from the parish of Wairarapa is also attending.
This second session of the Synod addresses the question How to be a missionary synodal Church? This is indeed the challenge for us as we come to terms with what it means to be synodal and then how this may be put into practice moving forward. The synodal Church is about attitude and action. It is helpful to be able to explain what it is so that we know what to work on in our life as a Church moving forward.
This is an important gathering and I would ask that you pray very deliberately for this Synod over the month of October. We are asking the Holy Spirit to animate our hearts and minds so that the discussions will be graced and help us in working for a Church that is truly missionary.
I am wanting us to reflect on what we are doing, how we are doing it, and what we need to do into the future to be more outward focused as people of the Gospel.
In the Archdiocese I have asked all the priests to read Fr James Mallon’s book Divine Renovation – From a Maintenance to a Missional Parish. This was written 10 years ago and there have been a lot of developments since in this area. It is about looking at our parishes and seeing how they are helping us to have a deep encounter with Christ and from that build communities of faith, which are then focused on being missionary. The Archdiocesan Pastoral Council have also been reading this and discussed it at their August meeting.
I am not pushing the Divine Renovation movement as the only way for parish renewal. I am wanting us to reflect on what we are doing, how we are doing it, and what we need to do into the future to be more outward focused as people of the Gospel. My hope is that parish councils and leadership teams will also work on this together.
At the heart of all of this lies the question of whether we have fallen in love with Christ, have encountered Christ personally. For if we have and continue to then we will be motivated and indeed driven to want to share in the life of the Church and bringing others to Christ.
James Mallon notes ‘the difficult truth for us as pastors, leaders and people who care about our Church is that so many of our people have never come to know him personally, and therefore have no hunger for him’. That is a sobering statement.
We know faith is a journey, that we have times when we are going well and others when we struggle and everything in between. As we approach the Year of Jubilee in 2025 with the theme of ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ I want us to be doing all we can to deepen and strengthen the faith lives of each of us and to build parish communities that support this faith so that we will indeed go out.
I pray the Holy Spirit will be kindled in all our hearts and that we will be a Church where those who are seeking the truth will find the person of Jesus Christ and his Good News.
Ngā mihi nui
XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
The Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will take place from Wednesday 2 October to Sunday 27 October 2024. It will continue the work of the Synod on Synodality around the theme ‘For a Synodal Church: communion, participation and mission’. The Second Session of the XVI Assembly will be preceded by two days of spiritual retreat, from 30 September to 1 October, with participants arriving on 29 September.