WelCom November 2024
Archbishop Paul Martin sm, Archbishop of Wellington
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
I am writing this at the end of the first day of the third week of the Synod here in Rome. We have just completed the third section of the document that we are working through. It is entitled ‘Pathways’ and it laid out possible ways that we might move into the future as a Church.
It is a privilege to be at a Synod like this. The majority of the participants were here last year, so it is like seeing your friends again after a long time apart. The way the Synod is conducted is different from the past, with round-table groups, lots of listening and the opportunity to feed into the reports. It can also be frustrating listening to people talking about things that seem to be off topic at times. It has helped me to become aware of the huge diversity of our Church in terms of culture, contexts and experience. It makes me realise that we are already doing a number of things to work together, to listen and be synodal.
It is apparent also that our context in New Zealand is very different to other places. We are small, relatively isolated, strongly secular in our history and current population. We have become a very multi-cultural nation of people and as a Church. Our worshipping communities are made up of people from many nations, a lot of whom have come to live in this land in more recent times. This is our Church and our society and we need to embrace this reality as the community into whom God has called us. There is no point in pining for the past or wishing it were different. This is our faith community and I am always struck when I gather for Mass in parishes how wonderful to see all these people for whom God is important, who are open to the message of Jesus Christ, who want to celebrate the Sacraments with their brothers and sisters, and who know that they have a responsibility to share this Good News.
I hope that when the Synod is over there will eventually be some material available to us to help us in becoming a synodal missionary Church. I want us to keep working at it in the context we find ourselves in and to help one another to encounter Christ and to deepen our formation in faith and way of being members of his body, the Church. I’m not looking for instant answers. It is going to take us a significant amount of time to develop the attitudes and actions of working synodally. But this is the time that we were created for, this is the Church that we have been welcomed into and belong to. I have great confidence that God will not abandon us and that the Holy Spirit will empower us with his gifts for our time.
I look forward to continue being on this journey with you. I encourage you to see the face of Christ in those with whom you gather for worship, community and outreach. Pray for our Church, for each other, that we will be faithful to our baptismal calling as disciples of Christ and that we will have the courage to be his witnesses in the circumstances we find ourselves in.
Ngā mihi nui