| Administration |
|
As Director of Pastoral Planning for the Killaloe Diocese I welcome you to the Pastoral Planning Section of our diocesan website!
The work of Pastoral Planning is relatively new to the Church of our diocese. We inherited a Church in which the focus was on ‘maintenance and management'. Masses were celebrated, Sacraments were administered, rules of morality were spelled out for the people, buildings were constructed and maintained. This ‘maintenance' model was suited to its own time but is out of touch with the reality of 21st century Ireland.
At a Diocesan Assembly of the priests of the diocese, in January 2002, a decision was taken to put a diocesan plan in place. Why? Because we needed direction and planning is about giving direction. It is about identifying priorities. It is about focusing on these priorities.
A consultation process followed across the diocese, thus giving us an opportunity to assess the current pastoral reality. This process helped us to listen to and identify the real needs of the people of the diocese. It helped us to reflect on the kind of parishes and diocese we want in the years ahead.
Diocesan Pastoral Plan (2004) Click here for "Pastoral plan" The Killaloe Diocesan Pastoral Plan (2004), which you can read here, is our expression of the kind of Church we want to grow towards. It is foundational to all we are doing now. It speaks of a way of being Church which puts Christ at the centre, which tries to connect the Gospel message to the reality of people's lives. So it is about a Gospel vision, a local vision, a vision set out by Pope John Paul at the turn of the millennium when he asked us to launch out into the deep. Our implementation of this vision focuses on three areas:
1) Prayer and Spirituality
2) Formation and Support 3) Structures and Communication 1. Prayer and Spirituality
Two Diocesan Liturgy Groups representing both sides of the diocese were set up in 2005. These groups have been offering formation, resources and ongoing support to parishes, helping them especially to improve the quality of our Sunday celebrations. Many parishes now have Parish Liturgy Groups which work on the ground to make the celebration of the liturgy more meaningful and to encourage more participative liturgies and involvement of lay people in all kinds of liturgical ministries. In many parishes, there has been a rich flowering of local talent and creativity. Getting to know Christ in the Scriptures is enhancing and deepening the life of many people across the diocese. Lectio Divina is one of the oldest methods of prayer and contemplation which has experienced revival in recent years. Across the diocese many of our priests are using this as a way of praying together. Lay people too are using this way of praying especially during Lent. (Link to this year's booklet).
Twenty three lay people from across the diocese are undertaking a three year, Pastoral Scripture Course at the Dominican Biblical Institute in Limerick. This course enables participants to deepen their own understanding of and love for the scriptures and gives them the knowledge and practical skills to work with the scriptures. (more about the Pastoral Scripture Programme... add link )
There are a number of other prayer forms and spirituality initiatives already in place across the diocese, many of them lay led initiatives - Eucharistic Adoration, Taize Prayer, Charismatic Prayer Groups etc.
2. Formation and Support
We recognise the need for formation and support of both clergy and laity if we are to move towards the kind of Church we envisage in our pastoral plan. Early in the process, formation days for the clergy were held at different locations across the diocese. Over a two year period, Donal Harrington facilitated a formation process, across the diocese, for both priests and laity.
We recognise that the formation of clergy and laity is one of the key challenges for the future and that further planning and initiatives will need to be taken in this area.
3. Structures and Communications
Diocesan Pastoral Council
Initially, an Implementation Committee was set up to oversee the working out of the Pastoral Plan throughout the diocese. In 2006 the Implementation Committee gave way to a new Diocesan Pastoral Council with representatives from across the diocese. Parish Pastoral Councils
A key aspect of the new model of Church we are working towards is strong lay leadership in our parishes. For some time now, our main focus has been on the establishment of Parish Pastoral Councils. The document Forward Together is our shared understanding of what Pastoral Councils are and how they can work effectively. In 2007 a Survey of the Pastoral Councils in the Diocese took place (link here to Survey). A detailed survey questionnaire, returned by 42 parishes across the diocese, showed that Pastoral Councils have become a reality in most areas and are doing significant work in building up parish communities. The Survey also highlighted the need for ongoing training and for networking between Pastoral Councils.
In response to the need for ongoing training articulated by many Pastoral Councils a Draft Training Programme has been put together. (link to draft training programme). This is ‘a work in progress' which will be ready to deliver to parishes from September ‘09 to May '10. In response to the expressed need for communication we have recently launched a newsletter Pobal Chilldalua. This will help parishes to share ideas and new initiatives with each other as well as providing a link between the Diocesan Pastoral Council and the Parish Pastoral Councils. Click here for "newsletter"
Clustering of Parishes
Our Pastoral Plan identified the need for parishes to work together collaboratively, sharing resources and gifts and enabling the ministry needs of the parishes to be met with a declining number of priests. The first clustering initiative came in 2003, with the setting up of the Imeall Boirne Cluster among parishes on the edge of the Burren, Crusheen, Ruan, Tubber and Corofin. In 2007, an East Clare Cluster was formed linking the six parishes of Mountshannon, Scariff, Tuamgraney, Feakle, Killanena and Tulla. The most recent grouping formed (2008) involved the nine most westerly parishes in Clare, namely Cross, Carrigaholt, Kilkee, Doonbeg, Kilrush, Killimer, Kilmurry McMahon, Cooraclare and Kilmihil. At a meeting on 16th February, Bishop Willie Walsh announced the setting up of four new groupings in Clare and one in North Tipperary. These are:
Mid-West Clare: Miltown Malbay, Inagh, Kilmaley, Mullagh, Ballynacally, Kildysart and Coolmeen.
Ennis Area: Ennis, Barefield, Clarecastle and Quin
South Clare: Newmarket-on-Fergus, Sixmilebridge and Shannon
South East: O'Callaghan's Mills, Ogonnelloe, Killaloe, Broadford, Clonlara and Castleconnell (Co. Limerick)
Tipperary: Silvermines, Templederry, Toomevara
The remaining clusters in North Tipperary will be set up in due course.
West Clare Cluster: A Pilot Project We recognise that participation of lay people both at voluntary and professional levels is vital in developing a new model of Church. For some time the Diocesan Pastoral Council had been exploring the possibility of employing a professionally qualified lay pastoral worker who would work in a cluster of parishes in the diocese. It was decided to initiate a pilot project in the West Clare Cluster, beginning in December 2008. The aims of this appointment were:
· To enhance the leadership capacity of groups in each of the parishes to maintain and develop pastoral activities, including activities that seek to reach out to people who have disconnected from regular contact with the church. · To facilitate the priests and people of the parishes in working more effectively together for this purpose, developing appropriate pastoral structures for both the individual parishes and the cluster. Significant work was done between the diocese and the West Clare Cluster in preparation for the new appointment e.g. agreeing a job description and terms of employment, ensuring a transparent application and appointment process, agreeing shared responsibility for the project between diocese and cluster etc. While still very much in its infancy, we are very encouraged by the early experiences of the pilot project and believe there will be significant learning from it. Parishes are beginning to work together at Cluster level especially in the area of formation and support. At individual parish level, facilitation and support is made available to individual Parish Pastoral Councils.
The Journey Ahead...
We realise that the journey set out in our Pastoral Plan will not be accomplished overnight. A new model of Church will require changes in mind and heart which are not brought about overnight. But we have committed ourselves to setting out on that journey in a spirit of dialogue and openness. In the past year, a Review of the Pastoral Plan 2008 (add link to this here) has emphasised the urgency of the challenge before us:
Change is often difficult, stressful and indeed, painful. This is particularly so if many of the priests who are being asked to change are old, trained and experienced in established practices and supported in their role by a laity accustomed to relative passivity in Church matters. The dilemma which our Church faces is that change in such circumstances should ideally be as gradual as possible. However, the rate of change, driven by the age profile of priests and the increasing burdens which the lack of vocations places on them, does not permit any such leisurely approach. New ways of doing things, new structures and a new vision of parish must be embraced with all the energy that can be mustered in the service of the Gospel. In particular, there is a need to engage with young people and to see all parishes as mission territory.
|
