Ireland’s Catholic bishops are planning a major
national pastoral conference for September of next year following
publication of the exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (the Joy of the Gospel)
by Pope Francis last week.
They
have also urged the Catholic laity to engage with the consultation
process initiated by Pope Francis in anticipation of the synod of
bishops on the family in Rome next October and have pointed them to the
relevant questionnaire.
Reflection
In a statement at the conclusion of their
winter meeting last night, the Irish Bishops’ Conference said that
Evangelii Gaudium “presents us with the task of renewing our
understanding of what it means to be followers of Christ and calls us to
be witnesses to his message in the world today”.
“That
task will require serious reflection and effort in every part of the
church: bishops, priests, religious, parishes, schools, families,
groups, associations and individuals.”
The bishops
urged “the faithful, priests and religious of Ireland” to “be open to
the inspiration offered by Evangelii Gaudium, also available at
www.catholicbishops.ie, in Veritas bookshops, and at www.vatican.va.”
Reconciliation
On Northern Ireland
they said “the task of reconciliation requires us to develop a whole
new language of understanding and forgiveness. It is our hope that the
Haass initiative will make an important contribution to this process at
the political level.”
They paid tribute to the work of the late Fr Alec Reid, whose “vital pastoral work behind the scenes helped build peace”.
A
delegation from the church’s Towards Healing service for abuse victims
told the bishops it was hoped to provide 31,600 counselling sessions in
2014, rising to 37,100 sessions in 2017.