Reflections on the Pre-Synodal Assembly of the Catholic Church in Ireland, held in Kilkenny on 18th October 2025.
About 230 people gathered in Kilkenny on Saturday, 18th October to participate in a meeting described as a Pre-Synodal Assembly, comprising ordained and lay members of the Church, representing both dioceses and various other organisations. The purpose of the meeting, as described in a preparatory document “Baptised and Sent”, was that the assembly was part of an ongoing process of listening to the Holy Spirit and an opportunity to begin shaping concrete pathways for renewal. We Are Church Ireland sent four delegates from its core group.
Delegates sat around pre allocated round tables with approximately seven persons to a table. Following a presentation about what has emerged so far in the national process, delegates were asked to engage in a “conversation in the Spirit” exercise on what they had heard. This was based on the road to Emmaus story, within the broad framework of (i) “Jesus joined the disciples as they walked along”, (ii) “Did our hearts not burn within us?”, and (iii) “And their eyes were opened.” Post-it notes were produced from each table and displayed during the lunch period. Dr. Jessie Rogers (Scripture scholar and Director of the Centre for Mission and Ministries, Maynooth) and Gerry O’Hanlon S.J. – an insightful and renowned commentator on the developing of a synodal church, were asked to review these “post-its.” They submitted their observations, which provided material for the afternoon sessions.
Jessie and Gerry posed several questions around requirements for the synodal process, what should be discontinued in our activities, and the need for a better understanding of Baptism? They said, with regard to Church doctrine, discerning what is permanent is significant and then posed the question what can be changed ; how do we provide an encounter with Jesus?
The main “take away” from the day was the announcement by the National Synodal team to set up working groups around the 7 priorities listed in the “Baptised and Sent” document. This is with a view to providing concrete recommendations for the 2026 National Synodal Assembly, expected sometime in October, which in turn will feed into a Universal Church Assembly in 2028.
These priorities are:
1. Belonging: fostering a Church of welcome, inclusion, and safety where each person finds a home in community and in Christ.
2. Co-responsibility and Lay Ministry: empowering all the baptised, women and men, to share responsibility for leadership and mission through new models of ministry and decision making.
3. Family: supporting the domestic Church as the primary place of faith transmission and belonging, and strengthening its connection with parishes and schools.
4. Formation and Catechesis: deepening faith through lifelong formation that is Christ-centered, experiential, and equips the baptised for discipleship in today’s world. Rooted not only in learning but also in liturgy and sacramental life, so that prayer and worship become living sources of faith, understanding, and mission.
5. Healing: acknowledging wounds, especially those caused by abuse; committing to accountability, justice, and reconciliation; and ensuring safe spaces for survivors and all who carry pain.
6. Women: recognising and including women’s gifts, leadership, and co-responsibility at every level of Church life, as a matter of justice and credibility.
7. Youth: engaging young people with authenticity, offering them meaningful roles in leadership and mission, and listening to their hopes and challenges.
There was no direct discussion or exploration by the participants on the content of “Baptised and Sent” – the preparatory document for both the day itself and as an aid to our looking forward to the Irish synod next year. This was probably due to the fact that delegates were asked to reflect on the summary provided at the start of the meeting rather than the document itself. It was noted that very few of the “post-its” referred to the status of women. We made the point to the meeting that to exclude social justice and environmental concerns from the list of priorities would point to a Church that is out of touch with societal concerns yet these are areas most likely to attract persons who currently have little involvement with the Church.
We suggested that the 2026 Synodal Assembly should be organised with a view to having equal numbers of women and men participants to demonstrate practical implementation of the priorities.
It was noted that the profile of the participants was probably not representative of the “ordinary church goer”, that groups often described as marginalised’ were not represented, and that reflection of the ‘New Ireland’ with its citizens drawn from all over the world, was small.
The benefit and historical importance, of having ordained and lay members of the Church sit down in discussion together subject to the same rules of engagement, needs to be recognized. For some there is disappointment that more was not achieved on the day but given that no specific proposals for action were before the delegates, a general commitment to some future action was the most likely outcome. This also reflects the fact that any momentum from the parish meetings around 2022 has been lost and in some parishes there was no synodal exercise in the first place.
We are now entering a critical period in this process because there is a need to move from generalities to specific actions if the process is to have any credibility. We need to pay attention to the setting up of these working groups and to participate as best we can to give expression to our aims. There may be a temptation to go for the non-controversial “low hanging fruit” with the risk that more fundamental reforms are pushed to the back of the queue where they disappear from sight.
Wherever future synodal discussions lead us, we hope and pray that we may be rooted in the two symbols of the day – symbols that were placed on every group’s table and which were central to the prayer and aim of the day: (i) a candle representing the light by which we are all formed and led, and (ii) a St. Brigid’s cross in which we, as the Irish church are rooted.