Australian parish priests to be heard in the Vatican
The names have been released of two Australian parish priests selected to attend a global gathering of 300 priests at the Vatican.
Fr David Ranson (Chatswood) and Fr Paul Crotty (Coober Pedy) will attend the “Parish Priests for the Synod: An International Meeting” between 28 April and 2 May 2024 in Rome.
Fr David was the secretary of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, and is the parish priest of Chatswood in the Diocese of Broken Bay. He has pioneered the Parish-in-Council project to identify the Chatswood parish mission to "Bring the light of Christ to the city".
Fr Paul is the parish priest in Coober Pedy, in the Diocese of Port Pirie, South Australia. For nearly five years, he has been in the Parish of Coober Pedy Inland Mission, which is the size of France and includes families in small towns, on cattle stations, and on the Aboriginal Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands.
"Effective ministry out here in the outback is being present with the people. Pope Francis would say ‘to have the smell of the sheep’", he said.
Fr Paul will also share with other priests from around the world the experience of the Port Pirie diocesan assembly, which had for over 25 years "practised the rudiments of synodality - reflecting, praying and listening as Church".
The number of participants was determined using criterion similar to that used for the election of the members of the Synodal Assembly. Each bishops conference was asked to provide parish priests with "significant experience in the perspective of a synodal Church", while also ensuring the attendees are from a variety of pastoral backgrounds.
During the five-day meeting in Rome, the priests will participate in roundtable discussions, liturgical celebrations, workshops on pastoral proposals, and discussion with experts. The goal is to listen to and value the experience of parish priests, giving them an opportunity to experience the "dynamism of synodal work at a universal level".
The meeting is being held in the lead-up to the second session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be convened in Rome in October 2024. The first session of the "Synod on Synodality" finished in late October 2023 with a 42-page document known as the Synthesis Report. That report recommended ways for a "more active involvement of deacons, priests and bishops in the synodal process", which inspired the gathering of priests.
The priests will have an audience with Pope Francis on 2 May, and the meeting will contribute to the drafting of Instrumentum Laboris, the working document for the second session of the synod assembly.
The meedting will be held at the Fraterna Domus retreat and conference center in Sacrofano on the outskirts of Rome. It is about 30 minutes north west of Rome.