Looking for your input

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This article was published 27/08/2016 (3710 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

No matter if you’re lapsed, former, or even just nominally Roman Catholic, the Archbishop of Winnipeg wants to hear from you.

That invitation also extends to folks who identify as Catholic on the Canadian census, and to any Catholic affiliates who read this newspaper.

“I could suggest two questions for people who read the Free Press who may not be actively involved in the Catholic Church. Their comments would be most welcome,” says Archbishop Richard Gagnon of Winnipeg of the wide range of responses he’s seeking as part of the listening and goal-setting process called a synod.

Actually the archbishop has three questions: What do you appreciate about your contact with the Catholic Church? What is your vision for the church’s future? What are the challenges?

Gagnon hopes to hear answers to those questions during a series of 10 meetings this fall across the Archdiocese of Winnipeg, which includes about 150,000 Catholics in 100 parishes in Winnipeg and southwestern Manitoba.

“One of the principles of a synod is this: The people of God have an intuitive sense of the faith,” says Gagnon, who was named archbishop in 2014.

“What is on the minds of the people of God?”

Covering two years, the synod process begins with listening sessions from September until November, leading to discussion papers and then final recommendations.

Gagnon says the two-year-long exercise is an opportunity to identify issues within the diocese and shape its future.

“The word synod means to walk together,” he says.

“It’s exciting to have this formal structure by which people can actively communicate with each other.”

That communication could extend to examining the words, perhaps even jargon, church leaders employ to talk about matters of faith and doctrine with parishioners, suggests Rev. James deBeer of Stonewall, who also serves parishes in Stony Mountain and Teulon.

“We want to communicate the message of Jesus Christ to everyone, but often we use language they don’t understand,” says deBeer.

The organizers of the synod might want to consider that limiting listening sessions to only 90 minutes may not work for every cultural group, says the faith formation co-ordinator of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Aboriginal Parish.

Margot Lavoie says her congregation of about 100 plans to have an all-day preparatory session where parishioners can discuss their concerns and formulate their responses before the listening session scheduled at their Home Street building for Oct. 8.

“We really need to examine closely how the Latin Church is open to the expression of indigenous people,” she says of the differing cultural practices.

“We already have 17 different rites and so would there be an indigenous rite?”

For the people who attend one of the five weekend masses at St. Edward the Confessor on Arlington Street, the challenge is finding time for parish activities between busy work schedules and family responsibilities, both in Winnipeg and back home in the Philippines, explains Rev. Rainerio Sarce.

He says many new Canadians work hard to establish themselves here while sending money back home to relatives, and don’t have extra time to volunteer in the parish or even attend services.

“Because you work for survival, it takes you away from church life, but at the same time it pushes you to go to church because you need support,” says Sarce, who came to Winnipeg from the Philippines 18 years ago at the request of the archdiocese.

The point of the synod is to hear that wide range of experiences and perspectives, and then focus the responses into recommendations, says a member of the synod council.

“Think of the synod as a funnel. It is wide at one end and many things come in,” explains Ted Wood, director of pastoral services for the archdiocese.

And the entire process is to explore and understand the connection between the Roman Catholic faith and the wider culture, says Gagnon.

“I think the message would be, how can the church play a more effective role in society?”

brenda@suderman.com

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