October 17, 2015

This weekend across the diocese of Limerick we are marking another Synod Sunday to inform the diocese where things are with the synod process and also to seek their continuing prayer and support. 
 
On this weeks programme Fr Eamonn Fitzgibbon comes back into studio to update us on how things are going with Limerick Diocesan Synod 2016 especially following the last Synod Delegate gathering on 3rd October when the themes to be discussed at the Synod were chosen and voted on by the delegates following the listening and discerning phase of the Synod during the early months of 2015.

 
Martina O'Sullivan who is a regular panellist on the programme also joined us on this weeks programme to share with us her experience of being a delegate at the Synod to date since the whole process started twelve months ago and especially of the Delegate day on October 3rd and the discernment of the themes for Synod 2016.
 
The delegate day on October 3rd was a gathering of over 300 delegates – 70% of whom were lay people – to the Limerick Diocesan Synod, which takes place next year, who selected the six themes from a shortlist of 12 compiled over a ‘Listening Process’ in the first half of 2015.  The process connected with 5,000 plus people, from primary school children to the elderly and drawn from all socio economic backgrounds and ethnicities, across the Diocese.
 
The Listening Process included a questionnaire responded to by 4,000 people, amounting to the largest poll of the faithful in relation to issues facing the Church in Ireland in the modern era, as well meetings attended by over 1,500 individual people.  All 60 parishes engaged in the process, as well as 25 other groups, including primary, secondary and third level education, healthcare workers, members of the travelling community, the migrant community and people with disabilities.
 
It culminated at the Delegate Day when the six themes were voted for after a day of intense reflection and discernment.
 
The themes, in order as they were selected by the delegates at the weekend, for the Diocesan Synod are:

Community & Sense of Belonging
Faith Formation
Pastoral Care of the Family
New Models of Leadership
Liturgy & Life
Young People

To find out more about the Delegates Day on October 3rd and more about the themes chosen for the synod HERE.