In late 2024, a Synod Working Party, commissioned by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP and led by Bishop Daniel Meagher, recommended a diocesan Synod be held in response to three significant and repeated longings: that our liturgies be more prayerful, that our parishes and other church communities be Christ-centred and that our church be mission-oriented.
These longings emerged after extensive review of submissions from the Synod on Young People, the Plenary Council, and most recently, the Synod on Synodality. On the Feast of the Chair of Peter, 22 February 2025, Archbishop Fisher convoked the Sydney Synod to be held from 30 April to 3 May 2026.
Now, only months away the first Synod in our Archdiocese since 1951, the archbishop has formalised the ideas to be discussed. Before sharing the ideas, it may be opportune to reflect on the concept of synodality and the journey as to how these ideas were discerned.
The term “synodality” has Greek roots and means “journeying together.” A more fleshed-out definition is provided by the archbishop who states synodality is a “willingness to listen, dialogue, share so all the faithful might assume their co-responsibility for the mission”.
Archbishop Fisher further describes synodality as “a process of hearing the Holy Spirit speaking to the churches, through humble listening and prayerful discernment”.
From the Council of Jerusalem (c. 50 A.D.) to the Synod on Synodality (2023-24), the Catholic Church has a rich and long-standing tradition of journeying alongside one another and guided by the Holy Spirit to respond to spiritual and pastoral matters of the times.
The Sydney Synod represents yet another one of these important events in the life of our church.
Our Synod will bring together members of the Sydney faithful – clergy, religious and laity – to respond to heartfelt longings that have been shared by our people over many years through an openness to the Holy Spirit, described by His Grace as “the principal protagonist” at the heart of any Synod.
It will gather 180 members of the Sydney faithful from different ecclesial, migrant and religious communities; parishioners, parents and family educators from across our nine deaneries; staff from our schools, universities, university chaplaincies and Catholic agencies; as well as those working in health and welfare sectors.
Alongside our archbishop, his auxiliary bishops and clergy, Synod delegates will come together to prayerfully listen, discern and respond to grass-root ideas for a more prayerful, Christ-centred and missionary church.
Three regional consultations were held as part of our preparation phase in August and October 2025, generating ideas that responded to the three longings for more prayerful liturgies, more Christ-centred communities and a more mission-oriented church.
As our archbishop reiterated at each consultation, the Synod itself present a unique opportunity to strengthen our church in Sydney through faithful, positive and practical ways. Each consultation proved a resounding success, with many of the 650 people in attendance across the three gatherings joyfully sharing and listening to ideas on how we can become a more prayerful, Christ-centred and missionary people.
At the conclusion of the consultations, Sydney Catholics were encouraged to make formal paper and online submissions.
The Synod Working Party received 500 submissions and undertook the task of prayerfully discerning ideas all these contributions into a refined list for the archbishop’s consideration. In our deliberations, we strove to honour all positive, faithful and practical ideas.
It soon became clear that many submissions shared common themes, allowing them to be grouped together. This enabled us to synthesise the submissions into clearer, succinct, and actionable proposals that remain faithful to the original source.
The ideas to be discussed at the Synod are as follows:
For more prayerful liturgies:
- Structured and regular training in sacred music to be offered to parishes and communities
- Digital liturgical resources to be established and actively used in parishes and communities
- Ongoing formation on the meaning and sacredness of the liturgy
- A spirit of silence be encouraged before, during, and after Mass
- Yearly instruction to be offered at clergy conferences to improve the content and delivery of homilies
- In preparation for the International Eucharistic Congress 2028 to be held in Sydney, formation on the Eucharist to be made widely available
Historic Synod Consultations signal way forward for the future church
For more Christ-centred communities:
- Parishes in each deanery collaborate to offer more options for sacraments and prayer; and to keep churches open for longer
- Inspiring catechesis emphasising our vocation as members of the Body of Christ
- Develop new family-oriented and knowledge-rich children’s sacramental programs that nurture ongoing Christian discipleship
- Establish teams of parishioners to accompany the newly-baptised for 12 months
- Create parish-based prayer groups that bring people into personal relationship with Jesus
- Strengthen the formation and Christian discipleship of teachers, especially religious education teachers and school leaders.
For a more mission-oriented church:
- Parishes and communities to have welcoming and hospitality ministries so that all are invited and welcomed
- Establish service and outreach groups in each parish
- Strengthen digital evangelisation
- Encourage and train clergy and parish or community teams in different ways of evangelisation
- Establish additional religious communities in the archdiocese over the next 10 years
- Ensure wider availability of Alpha and similar programs
Following time for significant prayer, discussion and reflection over the ideas at the Synod, members will vote for their preferences as to which of these they would like to see implemented. The results of the voting will be submitted to the archbishop, who will then decide whether to enact any of the ideas following the Synod.
As we journey closer to April, we ask that you please keep our Synod, those who will be in attendance, and all our preparations in your prayers.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, may it bear tremendous fruit in the lives of all Catholics and contribute to the continual growth we are witnessing in our Archdiocese of Sydney.
