Pierre Ducharme, OFM
Pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish, Richmond, B.C.
On October 2nd, 2024, Pope Francis opened the second session of the 16th Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of bishops. This session, like last year’s, includes lay women and men from around the world as full participants, sharing in every aspect of the process. The subject, meanwhile, is the process. How to be a Synodal Church on mission? A question for the whole church, yes, but particular for her every day facilitators – the Parish Priests.
This spring, I had the honour of sharing my experience of being a Parish Priest as a contribution to the global assembly. I was one three Canadians sent by the Canadian Conference of Catholic bishops to a gathering organized by the General Secretariat for the Synod and the Dicastery for the Clergy. Following that, our Canadian contingent organized and facilitated a gathering, on zoom, for Pastors from across Canada. All of it happened because I am, myself, a Parish Priest particularly zealous for co-responsible Christian community. This sort of community exists where the ordained are synodal – recognizing and celebrating the gifts of God’s people.
A Parish Priest, or Pastor, is essentially a facilitator. It is his job to gather and strengthen Christian community by empowering and commissioning the lay faithful who surround him, all the while trusting in their counsel. For a Franciscan, this makes sense. St. Francis of Assisi was well-known for celebrating the varied ways the Spirit spoke through those who surrounded him. See, for example, Francis’ decision to break from an Advent fast for solidarity with a brother who could not keep up (3rd Celano). Or bigger still, consider how he, Francis, respected the decision of a General Chapter of 1232 to replace him as leader of an Order he founded. Lessons in detachment not, obviously, from a Parish Priest, but modeling relevant to us all.
Pastoring is about service, not possession. As Pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, I am well aware that my service is to a people who long preceded and will long succeed my presence. During my time in their service, I benefit from hearing their cries of joy as well as their sorrows. I appreciate the grace to work with “teammates”, brothers and sisters, who share the load. Within each of these people, there are gifts that I will never possess but can certainly harness and support – as any good Pastor would. This is how to strengthen a Synodal Church on mission.
I dream, and am sometimes kept awake at night with thoughts, of diverse believers journeying with a single purpose. As a Parish Priest and as a Friar, I feel called to help facilitate this style of church into reality. I look forwarded to any all wisdom that that may come from the discussions, as well as the process, in Rome. Because everyone, everywhere, can contribute to a Synodal Church on mission.
