Communion, Participation and Mission

Communion, Participation and Mission

Uniting to the Universal Church and the call of Pope Francis to embark on a two-year Synod, Bishop McGrattan invites us to participate actively on this Synod.

Pope Francis’ remarks at the opening of the Synod are a call to ponder how we can experience it in the Spirit of Jesus:

“Jesus’ fervent prayer to the Father on behalf of his disciples: “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21). This is what we are called to: unity, communion, the fraternity born of the realization that all of us are embraced by the one love of God. All of us, without distinction, and in particular those of us who are bishops. As Saint Cyprian wrote: “We must maintain and firmly uphold this unity, above all ourselves, the bishops who preside in the Church, in order to demonstrate that the episcopate is itself one and undivided” (De Ecclesiae CatholicaeUnitate, 5). In the one People of God, therefore, let us journey together, in order to experience a Church that receives and lives this gift of unity, and is open to the voice of the Spirit.”

The XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2023 on the themes of Communion, Participation and Mission has begun. During October 2021 to April 2022 the listening phase of the Synod takes place. Bishop William McGrattan calls on all faithful, clergy and religious of the Diocese of Calgary to join him in this important journey of local gatherings in parishes, committees and ministry groups, lay associations, religious communities, Catholic schools and online participation.

Summoned by the Lord Jesus and rooted in the Holy Spirit, together we will listen to answer this fundamental question:

How is this “journeying together” happening today in our local Church?

What steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow in our “journeying together”?