The Pope meets with Parish Priests in “Parish Priests for the Synod” conversation

“discover with faith, the many and varied charismatic gifts of the laity, be they of a humble or more exalted form”…“bring to light many hidden treasures and feel less alone in the demanding task of evangelization.”

Pope Francis

In February, the Synod organizers announced that parish priests would be invited to have a listening session with Pope Francis.  This was in response to the first synod assembly’s Synthesis Report, which identified a need to “develop ways for a more active involvement of deacons, priests, and bishops in the synodal process during the coming year.”

There were three Canadian priests invited to the session, and a Franciscan priest Father Pierre from St. Joseph the Worker in Richmond BC was one of them.  He recently published some of his observations from that session. In his article he expresses some real optimism and certainly no regret for having attended, and his enthusiasm for the process is worth reading, you can see his article in BC Catholic My lesson in Rome: synodality is easier to live than to describe - BC Catholic

The Pope’s letter to priests

Subsequent to the meeting Pope Francis followed up this gathering with a letter to Parish Priests.  In it he thanked parish priests for their many gifts and their vocation which is critical to the mission of the church.  He then posed three goals for priests to strive towards as we continue on the synodal path: 

First, quoting text from the 2nd Vatican Council, “discover with faith, the many and varied charismatic gifts of the laity, be they of a humble or more exalted form”, encouraging priests to seek out the possibilities from the laity and in doing so “bring to light many hidden treasures and feel less alone in the demanding task of evangelization.” Second, the pope encouraged priests to practise the art of communal discernment, employing for this purpose the method of “conversation in the Spirit”, which has proved so helpful in the synodal journey. 

Lastly, the pope encouraged priests to foster fraternity among one another and their bishops saying, “We cannot be authentic fathers unless we are first sons and brothers. And we cannot foster communion and participation in the communities entrusted to our care unless, before all else, we live out those realities among ourselves.”

You can read the whole letter here : Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to Parish Priests (2 May 2024).