Congregational Leaders hold their first 'in person' meeting since May 2019
Sr Joan Chittister gave a presentation via zoom
The General Secretary of the Conference of Religious writes:
The Papal Nuncio talked about #Synod2023
“It was a great pleasure to be together after so much time apart and so many zoom meetings. I was very pleased with the number of people who joined us. For me, highlights of the two days were the talks given by the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti and that given by Sr Joan Chittister. Sr Joan’s talk was particularly inspiring and we were joined online by over 360 people, the highest number we have had attend a meeting for several years.
One of the topics we covered was synodality. I am aware that some are not optimistic that the Synod will lead to change and so find it hard to motivate themselves to participate. This point was put to the Nuncio and in response, he reminded us: what alternative do we have, but to try?
Our series of discussions starts on the 24th of November when we will be addressing the theme of communion. All are welcome and more information about this is set out below.
As Pope Francis said on October 17, “The journey of synodality is the journey that God wants from his church in the third millennium,”
SPEAKERS:
We were delighted to have such excellent input over the two days. Slides are available from : admin@corew.org
Care of our Common Home, Sr Nellie McLaughlin RSM:
Coming just days before Cop26, we felt it was fitting to devote some time to the environment, following on from our Cry of the Earth webinar and recent zoom meetings. Sr Nellie, who leads retreats and conferences in eco-spirituality, travelled from Donegal to be with us. Her presentation was informative and wide ranging.
Sr Patricia Mulhall OSB puts a question
Synodality: Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, Sr Rachel Duffy FCJ & Sr Maureen McKnight SND:
The whole of Tuesday morning was given over to this topic. Archbishop Malcolm outlined the synodal process that his archdiocese has gone through, charting its progress from initial planning through to consultations and feedback. The slides are available on request. Sister Rachel and Sister Maureen joined for the second part of the presentation, in which they shared their experience of being part of that synod. Sr Rachel was a member of the Liverpool Synod Working Party.
Papal Nuncio: As mentioned above, we were honoured to be joined by Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti in which he gave an uplifting and inspiring talk about the synodal journey.
Sr Joan Chittister OSB joined us for a live zoom session, to give a talk entitled:
'The Spiritual Mountains of the New Millennium: A Journey to Adulthood’
followed by questions and answers.
Mass with the CoR Executive on the Altar
This very rich and engaging day of presentations was followed by Mass celebrated by the Nuncio. Past and incoming members of the Executive were seated on the Altar and the parish music group provided excellent accompaniment. At the end, Fr Paul called Valerie to the front, to express thanks to her for the three years of service she has given to the Conference of Religious. Recalling that the initial letter from IICSA arrived just a few days after her appointment, he described her as a 'godsend' and thanked her for all the expertise and hard work that has guided the organisation through a challenging period.
The evening concluded with a splendid celebratory dinner. The Religious in attendance and members of the Secretariat were delighted to meet with the Nuncio, who also imparted his apostolic blessing to the staff of the Claretian Oasis.