Fathers Kevin McElhennon of the Diocese of Derry, and James Fegan of the Diocese of Ferns (pictured), have been nominated as two priest representatives from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference to attend the World Meeting of Parish Priests which will take place from 28 April to 2 May at the Fraterna Domus in Sacrofano, near Rome.
As part of the preparations for the Second Session of the Synodal Assembly this October, approximately 300 hundred parish priests have been identified by their Bishops’ Conferences to participate in this worldwide meeting of listening, prayer and discernment.
Entitled ‘Parish Priests for the Synod’, this international meeting has as its aim listening, and valuing, the experience of parish priests. This initiative is a direct response to the indications given in the Synthesis Report from the first session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2023, “there is a need to find ways to involve the clergy… more actively in the synodal process during the course of the next year. A synodal Church cannot do without their voices, experiences or contributions. We need to understand better the reasons why some have felt resistant to the synodal process.”
Working with the main question – how to be a synodal local church on mission – the world meeting will involve the active participation of all gathered for the sharing of best practices, workshops with pastoral proposals, and dialogue with experts, as well as time for prayer, liturgical celebrations and social sharing. The Holy Father Pope Francis will also receive the participants in audience on Thursday, 2 May. The results of the meeting will contribute to the drafting of the Instrumentum laboris, the working document for the Second Session of the Synodal Assembly this October.
For more information on the World Meeting of Priests or on the Universal Synod, please visit www.synod.va.
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