Report of a meeting held at Swansea, Saturday
27th. March 2004
Bishop’s Opening Remarks
In his opening remarks, Bishop Mark drew attention to the diocesan
website. This is regularly updated and is an important link for all
the diocese. The address is:
www.dioceseofmenevia.org
Family Life & Listening 2004
The Director of Family Life, Peter McPherson, has been appointed a
member of the Pastoral Council.
An important diocesan undertaking is our sharing in ‘Listening 2004’,
an initiative of the Bishops’ Conference aimed at involving every
diocese. Leaflets in English and Welsh have been circulated to the
parishes. Local and area meetings will reach their climax in a
gathering at the Cathedral on Saturday, September 18th. After
concelebrated Mass, Bishop Mark will chair a meeting at which people
from all round the diocese will bring their concerns, their hopes,
their needs to the attention of Bishop John Hine of Southwark and
Elizabeth Davies, who is Project Director for England and Wales.
Mass Times
In reviewing the provision of Sunday Masses, Bishop Mark said that he
did not favour a formal five or ten year programme, but he wants to
keep the situation under constant review. He is well aware of
the problems of re-arranging Mass times and stresses the need for the
support and understanding of clergy and people, and the need to keep
the people informed on the developing situation within the diocese.
Training
At present, there are two candidates in training for the priesthood.
Neil Evans who is Welsh speaking, is being ordained deacon at the Beda
College in June. Liam Bradley, a graduate of the University of Swansea
is in his first year of training at Valladolid, Spain.
There are two men in training for the diaconate. They are at the
end of their initial year and will be starting formal studies in
October.
Education
Sr. Eugenie, in her report on the Programme for Parish Religious
Education which is being prepared, informed the meeting that full
information on this is now available on the diocesan website.
Working Groups
The Programme of Work for the Pastoral Council is the decision of the
Diocesan Synod as contained in the Diocesan Plan for Mission.
Working groups have been set up to ensure that the insights of the
Synod are made active in the life of the diocese.
Gina Smith reported on the on-going work on ‘The Role of Women and Men
in the Diocese’. The Synod called for a Consultative Body to
establish the needs and roles of women and men and to find ways of
implementing decisions at parish, deanery and diocesan levels.
To help bring together and to ensure the spiritual vitality of what is
already being done in the many diocesan groups and organisations, the
Working Group is proposing that Days of Prayer be organised in
different parts of the diocese. It was thought that a Saturday
would be the most convenient day for individuals and for families.
Welsh Culture and Language
The Synod considered the particular needs of our diocese in its
geographical location and the place of Catholic Christianity in the
growth of an awareness of Welsh cultural identity.
In the diocese, we have two Infant Schools, sixteen Primary Schools
and three post-primary schools. All of these are required to
teach a Core Curriculum which takes into account the languages and the
history of Wales.
On behalf of the Pastoral Council, Sr. Angela has been consulting with
the schools in order to establish what are the legal requirements in
addressing the Welsh/Welsh culture/mission aspects of the schools.
What are the requirements in teaching of the Welsh Saints, the
spiritual renewal of the Age of the Saints? The responses have given
information of what is already being done. The schools have
asked for guidance in finding material on the ‘Age of the Saints’ and
for support in what they are doing to ensure that the children have a
knowledge of the history of the Catholic Faith in Wales.
The Pastoral Council was informed that real progress is being made in
many of the schools in the teaching of the Welsh language and in
teaching the basic Catholic prayers to the pupils.
The next Meeting of the Diocesan Pastoral Council will take place at
the Curial Office in Swansea on Saturday. 23rd October.
Pastoral Council - Background
The setting up of the Diocesan Pastoral Council
was one of the first actions of Bishop Mullins following the
successful Menevia Diocesan Synod. The current membership
comprises Bishop Mark (Presider), Bishop Mullins (Chairman), nine
priests, seven religious sisters and nineteen lay persons, three of
whom are young people and one a youth leader.
The first meeting took place on Saturday 26th May 2001, at St.
Mary’s Parish Centre, Carmarthen. Some 35 participants were
present for the all-day sessions, representing a cross section of
the diocese, with priests, religious and lay people from all parts
of Menevia. Bishops Daniel and Mark chaired the proceedings.
Bishop Mark stressed his total commitment to the work begun by
Bishop Mullins and his wish to involve Bishop Mullins in the task of
fulfilling the hopes and aims of the Synod.
The morning session involved the participants dividing into four
groups, each group looking at one of the four specific themes from
the Synod. First, the Teaching of the Church, second, the Community
of the Church, third, the Sacraments, and finally, Prayer.
Each group examined the proposals set out under each theme in the
report - The Diocesan Plan for Action. The groups were
asked to consider how the proposals could be brought about; who
should be responsible for them, and the time scale for their
implementation.
The afternoon session was a plenary session when each group reported
on their morning’s work. All observations and comments were
recorded and were incorporated in a report on further actions.
This report – the Pastoral Council Action Plan was circulated to all
members of the Pastoral Council in June 2001, for comments and
observations.
A second meeting of the Pastoral Council was convened on the 9th
November 2002. Bishop Mark had asked Bishop Mullins to take on the
role of Chairman.
Bishop Mark noted that much progress had been made many of the
matters raised at the Synod, and incorporated in the Pastoral Action
Plan. On the Ministry of Permanent Deacons, Fr Michael Lewis
had been appointed co-ordinator and director for Permanent Deacons,
a booklet had been published and circulated in parishes, and
leaflets had also been distributed. He stated that five
applications had been received but two were not successful as they
were above the age limit imposed by the Church.
The Vocations Board had been re-established, and Bishop Mark
reported that Canon Flook was now responsible for Vocations.
He was pleased to announce that there were five vocations at that
time. The Synod had been keen to involve Youth, and Fr. Teyrnon
Williams had been appointed Diocesan Youth Development Officer.
There had been good progress in the training of Youth workers and
the Bishop hoped more would be trained. The Youth Camp at
Llangrannog was a tremendous success and had been attended by 112
young people of the Diocese. Bishop Mark hoped that more than
200 would attend the next camp. He, Mgr. Kinrade and many of
the parish priests had paid a visit. This was a start, but the
Bishop hoped that it would continue and develop.
One of the first proposals contained in the Action Plan drawn up
after the Synod was that each parish should structure its religious
education in accord with a Diocesan Strategy for Education.
Sister Angela Murray, Diocesan Director of Education and Sister
Eugenie Murnion, Diocesan Co-ordinator of Catechetics are working on
a Diocesan Schema.
A Consultative Body is currently looking at the needs of men and
women in the Church. The importance of music within the
Liturgy is being looked at, as is the scope for using the wide range
of resources that are available in the diocese.
The Synod wished to look at the special place of the Welsh language
in the life of the Church, and Bishop Mullins is undertaking
consultations with a view to bringing concrete proposals to the
Pastoral Council. The Pastoral Council is also considering the
manner of celebrating St David’s Day in the diocese. This is being
examined further by the Committee on the Liturgy and that on Welsh
Culture.
