VATICAN: Parish Priests are Bridge in Synodal Journey, Pope’s Message

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

Following parish priests’ synodal meeting in Rome which concluded with a message from the Holy Father on Thursday, May 2, the Pope reminded the representatives from across the globe of their crucial role of bringing the bond between the Christians, the bishops… in the synodal journey.

“A synodal Church needs its parish priests. Without priests, we will never be able to learn how to walk together and to set out on the path of synodality, “the path which God expects of the Church of the third millennium,” reads part of Pope Francis’ letter as he emphasizes that parish priests are quite familiar with “the life of God’s People their joys and hardships, their resources and their needs.”

According to the Holy Father, the Church cannot be synodal and missionary “unless parish communities are distinguished by the sharing of all the baptized in the one mission of proclaiming the Gospel.” He emphasized the missionary spirit of sharing adding that “If parishes are not synodal and missionary, neither will the Church be.”

During the International, meeting dabbed, “Parish Priests for the Synod,” the Pontiff appreciated the work of parish priests referring to the message of St. Mark the Evangelist saying, “The Church could not go on without your dedication and your pastoral service, … I would therefore like to express my gratitude and appreciation for the generous work that you do each day, sowing seeds of the Gospel in every kind of soil,” (Mk 4:1-25).

In his appreciation, the Pope asked the Parish priests to make parish communities places from where the baptized “set out as missionary disciples and to which they return, full of joy, to share the wonders worked by the Lord through their witness.”

As pastors read part of the Pope’s Thursday message, “We are called to accompany in this process the communities that we serve, and at the same time to commit ourselves with prayer, discernment and apostolic zeal in ensuring that our ministry is suited to the needs of a synodal and missionary Church.”

The Pope reminded parish priests that the Lord who called and consecrated them asks them to listen to the voice of His Spirit and advance in the direction that he points out to.

He concluded, “I encourage you, then, to accept the Lord’s call to be, as parish priests, builders of a synodal and missionary Church and to devote yourselves enthusiastically to achieving this goal.”