Pastoral Letter: SYNOD24

The Synod of the Archdiocese of Brisbane took place at Holy Spirit Seminary, Banyo in two sessions in September and October 2024, each session beginning on Friday morning and finishing on Saturday afternoon.

A number of people were crucial to the preparation for the Synod. As chair of the Synod, Bishop Tim Norton SVD worked closely on the process with Stephanie Unger, the Executive Officer. In addition, much work was done by the Synod Engagement Team and by the writers who prepared the material for use at the Synod sessions, as well as serving when required at the sessions themselves.
The immediate background to the Synod was the Australian Plenary Council of 2021- 22, the decisions and decrees of which provided a framework for the Synod. The material from the extensive consultation before the assemblies of the Plenary Council was taken into account by both the Synod Engagement Team and the writers. The question for the Synod was, How might the decisions and decrees of the Plenary Council be implemented in the Archdiocese of Brisbane? The Synod, then, was geared to action.

A larger context was the 2023-24 Synod on Synodality in Rome, the second session of which was held at the same time as the Archdiocesan Assembly. There was an interweaving of the two Synods, global and local, so that this final document of the Archdiocesan Synod needs to be read in conjunction with the final document of the global Synod. The two are complementary, both produced under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Both documents were the products of Synods which involved more than bishops. In the past, Synods had involved almost exclusively bishops, which is why they were called Synods of Bishops. Significantly, Pope Francis has changed the name of the Office in Rome by dropping “of Bishops”, so that it now becomes just “the Office of the Synod”. Along the same lines, we in Australia sought a dispensation from the canonical provisions to allow for more who were not ordained to take part in the Plenary Council. That dispensation was granted by the Holy See, if only in part.

A still larger context of the Synod was the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65. In the Council’s documents the word “synodality” never appears; yet it is clear by now that synodality takes us to the heart of the Council’s teaching about how we are to be a co­ responsible Church for the sake of mission. Synodality, like the Council, is not just about the Church’s internal workings, but about our mission to the world. So too are these action plans coming from the Archdiocesan Synod.

At the Synod in Rome, Pope Francis accepted the final document as the magisterial statement at the end of the Synod. This was instead of what had been the practice in the past, that the Pope produce an Apostolic Exhortation on the basis of the final document of a Synod. Similarly here I promulgate the decisions of the Archdiocesan Synod, not exactly as they were handed to me but substantially unchanged. What came to me from the Synod was less refined than the document that was presented to the Pope in Rome; so I have made some editorial rearrangements and added an introduction and conclusion.

Neither the Synod in Rome nor the Brisbane Synod was a final point of arrival. Both were important moments with a long pre-history and a future stretching far ahead. They could not say or do all that needs to be said and done. We are on a long journey, and the Synod is a decisive staging-post on the journey without being the final destination.

Like the Plenary Council, the Synod had three phases: preparation, celebration, implementation. The preparation phase involved listening to many voices in the consultation, especially in the parishes and deaneries; the celebration phase was the members of the Synod listening to each other in the two sessions; and now the implementation phase looks to the practical application of the Synod’s action plans in the Archdiocese of Brisbane. That will take time. Some can be implemented quickly; others will require patience. But each of these three phases is under the influence of the Holy Spirit, since if that is not true all we are left with is politics; and the Church is much more than that.

Therefore, having listened attentively to the voices of the Archdiocesan Synod at the two sessions and in the exercise of my legislative power (can. 466), I now promulgate the action plans for the implementation of the decrees of the Plenary Council in the Archdiocese of Brisbane. These I sign as the synodal declarations and decrees (can. 466). I do so as the one charged with taking the final decisions, to the making of which many have contributed. In that sense, these are decisions not just of the Archbishop but of the Church.

All 50 action plans are important, but not all are of equal weight. Some are marked with three asterisks (21), indicating that they have priority or are more pressing, others with two asterisks (20), indicating that they have not quite the same priority or are less pressing, and some with one asterisk (9), indicating that the others have precedence over them. The judgements made are mine, though I realise that the imminent change of leadership in the Archdiocese and changes in society through the next few years may influence the process of implementation.

Some of these action plans already have currency in one form or other in the Archdiocese, or at least in some parts of the Archdiocese. The task will be to give greater impetus and focus to those that already have currency, but also to set in motion the processes to which others look.

Not all the action plans will be able to be implemented immediately, but none of them can be delayed indefinitely. Therefore, priorities will have to be set in the hope that the action plans will have been implemented within five years. Budgeting will also need to be considered, as will the question of who has carriage of the various initiatives.

There will need to be a group to oversee the implementation of the action plans, the Synod Council will also be charged with oversight of a broader kind, and the Archdiocesan Synods will monitor progress. Yet this is a document not just for some. It is for everyone; and I urge all parishes, communities, agencies and individuals to read and reflect upon the action plans and to be as creative as possible in implementing them.

These action plans are comprehensive but not exhaustive. There are things not mentioned in this document which are important for the future of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. For instance, we will certainly need to consider restructuring our parishes and even our schools, looking not so much to amalgamation but more to building a “community of communities”. How to engage young people more energetically in the life of the Church is another question not prominent in these action plans but essential for the future of the Church. How to be more effective in teaching prayer as a way of life, the art of listening to God in prayer and the contemplative eye upon the world: this is another. The list could go on. This is another way of saying that these action plans should be read in conjunction with my own document “With Lamps Ablaze” which sets out a number of what I called apostolic priorities for the Archdiocese. These interweave with the action plans found here.

I direct that these synodal declarations and decrees which I sign in accord with can. 466 be published to the entire community of the Archdiocese and that a copy be forwarded to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference as required by can. 467.

I thank all who have been part of the Synod journey, having heard the Lord’s promise to “make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). I commend these action plans to the grace of the Holy Spirit from whom this process has come forth and to the intercession of Mary Help of Christians, St Stephen and St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. May God who has begun the good work in us bring it to fulfilment (cf Philippians 1:6).