During March, April, and May 2025, the Diocese of Clonfert and the Diocese of Galway invited people to have their voice in the national conversation on the future of the Church in Ireland.
Convinced that the primary organs of synodality at local level were the newly formed and recently trained Parish Pastoral Councils, the Inter-Diocesan Synodal Committee asked all Parish Pastoral Councils to convene a meeting. Each council was invited to take part in a guided exercise of prayerful discernment to identify what should be on the agenda for a national discussion on the future of the Church in Ireland. Councils were then asked, through further discernment, to name the topics they believed most needed to be addressed.
Over forty Parish Pastoral Councils took part and submitted feedback. In parallel, a group of thirty priests engaged in the same process. The fruit of these reflections formed the basis for Le Chéile: A Gathering for Members of Parish Pastoral Councils, organised by the newly established An Ghailíl: Centre of Formation for Mission and Ministry. This gathering, facilitated by Ms Patricia Carroll and Fr Billy Swan, took place on 10 May 2025 and brought together over two hundred delegates from more than sixty parishes for a day of shared reflection and conversation.
View the Report at the below links: