Whilst in Rome for the Synod of Bishops on Synodality, the Diocese of Parramatta’s Vicar for Communications, Br Mark O’Connor FMS, has given an insight into the assembly for renowned journalist Geraldine Doogue’s podcast, Plenary Matters.
Returning for a new season exploring the Synod in Rome, Geraldine and Br Mark discuss the first week of the Synod and its initial similarities to the Australian Plenary Council.
“Bishop Shane Mackinlay and Archbishop Tim Costelloe have both said to me that the Plenary Council was great preparation for what they are going through now,” Br Mark explains.
“I’m told by the participants I’ve met that it’s a great experience because they meet in small groups in the first week, and then they change and they’re meeting new groups. It’s allowing people to listen and understand the wide variety of perspectives from the global Catholic Church.
“You’ve got lay people and women for the first time sitting around those [synod] tables and they have the right to vote on an equal basis as cardinals and bishops.
“I get a sense, and from what I’ve been told, there’s clearly a shift from a hierarchical view of the Church, that the only people that are there to make the decisions are the clerics and bishops, which is clear [through] the whole process – the symbols, the round tables, the fact that they are not given pre-determined answers,” he said.
You can find the episode and others on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.
READ Br Mark’s first, second and third Letters from a listening and global Synod.
