This "confronts us with something new, but something we do not clearly understand.

"There are hardly any priests or practising Catholics.

"We feel perplexed, even that the Lord has abandoned us. We feel that we have lost our way" Archbishop Dermot Farrell told a group of Catechists.

"These are important parts of our journey."

The "memory of huge numbers, and of a secure, strong Church" can be "a very painful learning for us". He said this during a ceremony where 45 lay people received certificates after completing a year-long course in Catechesis (teaching Christianity).

"Generously, you have given of your time - to engage with your faith" he said.

But the ceremony - and the need for it in the first place - is something new for the Church, he pointed out.

"Even 20 years ago, hardly anyone here could have imagined an evening like this.

We've changed

"Our country has changed, our lives have changed, and the expression of our faith - which is an expression of our lives - has changed" the archbishop said.

The Church "happens in our lives. As we change, our Church changes. We are called to recognise how the Church is changing and discern where the Good Shepherd is leading us" he said.

Farrell compared human life to a journey. Our faith lives are also journeys he commented. And, "the Church is our journey in faith together".

The journey's current stage is in a new environment with a diminishing number of priests available to serve in the Archdiocese's parishes and other ministries.

At the same time, there are fewer and fewer people who celebrate the sacraments regularly, and a need for increased resources required to maintain the existing parish infrastructure, he said.

Parish cooperation

The changes in priestly and congregational numbers, combined with today's infrastructure costs mean "it is no longer possible for me to appoint a resident priest to every parish" the archbishop said.

That means parishes will have to step up their cooperation to provide sacraments and pastoral care, Farrell explained.

Lay Catholics will need to help out.

It will require "a much greater involvement of the lay faithful in the partnerships of parishes to enable them to fulfil their mission and ministry".

It would always be "a little flock that takes the way of Jesus to heart; it will always be a little flock that will have the courage to follow him, and the generosity to give as he gives" he said.

New generations are needed to "lead new generations on the way of Christ, to guide and empower their peers to receive the gift of God".

It was "not about who will say our Masses, or who will teach the faith" he said.

"Let us pray for people - young women and men who would ‘hear his voice,' entrust themselves to it, witness to it and show us all how God is near" he said.

Source

• The Irish Times

They - catechumens (those who have never been baptised) and candidates (who have been baptised, but not as Catholics) - will all become members of the Catholic Church this Easter.

Numbers up

In Brisbane, the Easter Vigil at St Stephen's Cathedral will see 128 catechumens baptised and 70 candidates received into the Church.

At Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral, catechumen and candidate numbers are even more impressive, having nearly tripled in three years.

They have risen from 107 in 2021, to 179 in 2023, and to 266 this year.

Rite of Election

One of the last steps on the journey to becoming a Catholic involves the Rite of Election.

At this, they are presented to their parish as people about to join them as parish family members.

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) organisers actually love the Rite of Election. They love seeing each person to be received into the Church at Easter, hearing their name called out and receiving words of support from their family and friends.

It's a "beautiful moment" to see them take their next step in their faith journey says Arnaud Hurdoyal, Evangelisation Brisbane's adult formation officer.

"It's also the culmination of a lot of hard work."

Parishes have been doing a great job responding positively to people wanting to "learn more about who Jesus is" she added.

"It's amazing the impact that this has on the people who are journeying with the catechumens and candidates as well.

The Rite of Election has roots in traditions held since the early centuries of the Church. It has existed in its current form since the promulgation of the RCIA in 1972.

It is one of two annual liturgical celebrations for a diocese - the other being Chrism Mass.

Simon Yeak is the RCIA Co-ordinator at the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation. He is delighted with the support given to catechumens and candidates at the Rite of Election.

"It was incredible to see not a single pew free in the entire Cathedral" he says.

"The response from catechumens and candidates that I personally know said that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that they would not soon forget."

Source

• Catholic Weekly
• Catholic Leader

Now known as Dun Laoghaire, it is also where most passenger ships arrive at and leave from Dublin both then and now.

The idea of the Kingstown Pier as a disappointed bridge, unable to go all the way across the Irish Sea, says much about our many journeys.

And for those of us with an Irish background, it also tells of our ancestors who, forced by circumstance, nevertheless had courage to leave home.

Piers take you beyond the restrictions of the coastline.

They offer a different view and, most importantly, some bracing fresh air.

Bridges, on the other hand, take you over obstacles from one side to the other and enable you to continue the journey.

The Second Vatican Council of the mid-1960s could at first be considered a pier, a vantage point from where, leaving the safety of the shore, new visions could be seen.

John XXIII talked of "opening windows", many of which had been screwed shut for years.

There was excitement in the air, a springtime of expectancy, openness and confidence.

The Council remained no more than a pier for some.

Because of the anxiety, this new vision raised, they sought to make sure the pier never became a bridge.

At the first opportunity, they headed for the safety of the shore.

They seemed to disregard the words found in the Book of Proverbs: "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (29,18).

Kevin Kelly, in his book Fifty years receiving Vatican II, described the Council as "a continuing event" — in other words, a pier becoming a bridge.

That is, it's still leading us somewhere.

It is a gift that has been given.

• by being who we profess to be, a community brought together through the love of Christ.
• by listening to each others' story, sensitive to others' joys and sorrows, being willing to walk awhile in their company; not being afraid.
• by talking with each other, by being with each other and by praying together with sincerity; in that way we make our parish community real, we love one another.

"What is parish"

Too often our view of parish is a blend of motorway service station and imposed obligation.

Where is the outreach?

Where is the living liturgy that goes beyond patterns of words to offer inspiration to the people?

Given the increasing crisis in vocations to the priesthood, one of the crucial discussions we should be having, both priests and people, revolves around just three words — "What is parish?" For only when we have some grasp of what is, after all, a complex structure, can we continue bridge-building.

One thing we easily forget is that, although it has become a convenient construct of organization within a diocese, a parish needs a great deal of effort to make it a living, vital community.

Francis of Assisi, the inspiration of our current Bishop of Rome, directly said to the first friars, "You only know as much as you do!"

A parish of passive attenders falls short of the mark.

Not so long ago, those who shared in the Eucharist knew each other by name, they were "local". But not necessarily the case today given our increased mobility.

We are often away from our parish home and become visitors in another place sharing their Eucharist, welcome guests at the table of the Lord.

We need to find new ways forward and not be afraid of change.

• Chris McDonnell is a retired headteacher from England and a regular contributor to La Croix International.
• First published in La-Croix International. Republished with permission.

The new document, an instruction rather than law, deals with the theme of the pastoral care of parish communities. It's focus is on what parish communities mean to the various clerical and lay ministries, according to the Congregation for the Clergy, which released it.

"This instruction does not contain 'new legislation'," Monsignor Andrea Ripa from the Congregation says.

Ripa explains an instruction's aim is to "set out the provisions of a law and develop the manner in which it is to be put into effect," he said, citing article 34 §1 in the code of canon law.

"The role of the parish priest as the 'proper pastor' of the community is emphasized." the Congregation said when the document was published.

"The pastoral service connected with the presence in communities of deacons, consecrated and laypeople, called to participate actively in the Church's unique evangelizing mission according to their vocation and ministry, is also emphasized and highlighted."

However, critics point out that canon law says the parish priest, not the lay faithful or others, makes the final decision about the parish.

They cite canon 536 as an example. This says "a pastoral council is to be established in each parish", but only if the diocesan bishop "judges it opportune." And such a council "possesses a consultative vote only."

This not only keeps the decision-making with the clergy, but also reserves it for men, critics note.

The new instruction does nothing to change this gender imbalance - which is something the Congregation says it does not have the authority to alter.

The critics say the problem with the new instruction on the "pastoral conversion of the parish" is that there is no way to enforce any implementation of its first eight pages.

All that can be demanded is what comes afterwards - as it was in the beginning (of the implementation of the 16th century Council of Trent).

Pope Francis has repeated many times that any reform of structures will be useless and ineffectual unless there is first a change of mentality.

He has had some success in this respect during the past seven years.

While there are clergy who appear to have been "converted" to his vision of a synodal Church where all the People of God - both those who are called clerics and those who are called the laity - would share responsibilities, even in making decisions for the life of the community, not everyone's on board with the pope's views.

Critics say these people will not change their mentality unless they are provoked to do so by the force of law, which includes new structures and models - which is where critics say Francis's call for "pastoral conversion" comes up short.

More adequate structures and avenues must be created to favour, encourage and reflect the new mentality, they say.

Source

• La Croix
• Image: Society of Mary

But that challenge is also where grace abounds because L.G.B.T. Catholics have felt excluded from the church for so long that any experience of welcome can be life-changing—a healing moment that can inspire them to go to Mass again, return them to the faith and even help them to believe in God again.

Over the past few years, I've heard the most appalling stories from L.G.B.T. Catholics who have been made to feel unwelcome in parishes.

A 30-year-old autistic gay man who came out to his family and was not in any sort of relationship told me that a pastoral associate said he could no longer receive Communion in church.

Why?

Because even saying he was gay was a scandal.

Cruelty doesn't end at the doors of the church

Last year a woman contacted me to ask if I knew any "compassionate priests" in her archdiocese.

Why?

She was a nurse in a hospice where a Catholic patient was dying. But the local parish priest assigned to the hospice was refusing to anoint him—because he was gay.

Is it surprising that most L.G.B.T. Catholics feel like lepers in the church?

The same is true for families.

The mother of a gay teen told me her son had decided to come back to church after years of feeling the church hated him.

After much discussion, he decided to return on Easter Sunday.

The mother was overjoyed.

When Mass began she was so excited to have her son beside her.

But after the priest proclaimed the story of Christ's Resurrection, guess what he preached on?

The evils of homosexuality.

The son stood up and walked out of the church.

And the mother sat in the pew and cried.

Stories of grace

Last year, a university student told me that the first person to whom he came out was a priest.

The first thing the priest said was, "God loves you, and the church accepts you."

The young man told me, "That literally saved my life."

Indeed, we should rejoice that more and more Catholic parishes are places where L.G.B.T. Catholics feel at home, thanks to both the parish staff and more formalized programs.

My own Jesuit community in New York is next to a church called St. Paul the Apostle, which has one of the most active L.G.B.T. outreach programs in the world.

The ministry is called Out at St. Paul and sponsors retreats, Bible study groups, speaking engagements and social events for the parish's large L.G.B.T. community.

At every 5:15 p.m. Sunday Mass, when the time comes for parish announcements, an L.G.B.T. person gets up in the pulpit to say, "Hi! I'm Jason or Xorje or Marianne, and I'm a member at Out at St. Paul.

"If you're lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, we want you to feel welcome.

"Here are some events coming up this week." And I just learned that two members of that group are entering religious orders this year.

Sadly, much of the spiritual life of L.G.B.T. Catholics and their families depends on where they happen to live. Continue reading