Introduction from Bishop Richard to the “Synod Path”
Our engagement in the “Synod Path” is a response to an invitation from the Holy Father,
who invites us to prayer, discernment and openness to the Holy Spirit. He asks us to
address particular questions, in order to assist him and the bishops who will gather for
the Synod in their work for the good of the whole Church.
These questions are wide-ranging and significant for the life of the Universal Church and
for our own Diocesan family, for their invite us to explore more deeply our own mission,
our formation for that mission and the prayer that must always be the foundation for our
lives of faith and witness to the Risen Christ.
We are at a significant moment in the life of the whole Church and the world. The
experience of the Pandemic and the many challenges facing the global community are a
spur to us to examine the best way forward for the effective proclamation of the Good
News. This is a ‘golden moment’ for evangelization and the “Synod Path” will assist us in
the Diocese in sharpening our focus on the essential work to which we have been called.
Accordingly, I invite you to take part in discussions in parishes and deaneries during the
course of Advent this year, ideally through gatherings in each week of that season. I also
invite our school and university communities and our prison communities to engage
with the “Synod Path” in the ways most appropriate for them. Our communities of
religious are making their contribution to the Synod too. There will also be an
opportunity to respond via an internet link that will be published for the Diocese in the
weeks ahead. The Holy Father has given us an invitation to take this “Synod Path” and it
will be wonderful for us all to take this journey with – and for – the good of the Universal
Church.
Please keep in prayer the work of the “Synod Path“ in our Diocese and the Holy Father
and those bishops who will be gathering in Rome in 2023.
With every Blessing,
