Writings

1998

12th November 1998
Pastoral Letter on Parish Clustering for Advent
My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

On the eve of my departure for the Special Assembly of the Bishops of Australia and Oceania in Rome, I write to you about that very important process taking place throughout the Diocese known as Parish Clustering.

I want to inform you about its progress, to remind you of the reasons for undertaking this process and some of the principles guiding its implementation.

At the outset I want to state that our generation is working together to build a new image of Church.

We all know that today our society faces enormous challenges. The Church, also, faces enormous challenges; challenges such as a loss of relevance, adaptation to change, a crisis of authority.

There is a temptation when faced with these challenges to either cave into the pressures and do nothing or to retreat into past traditions which seem to offer security and certainty in an insecure and uncertain world.

Neither response is appropriate.

If our generation is working together to build a new image of Church, as I believe it is, we must rediscover our mission and listen to that which reveals the presence of the Spirit in our time.

Listening to the Spirit will build an appreciation that the Spirit is given equally to all the baptised. Since the Spirit is given equally and in different ways, an incredible richness is offered to the Church to further its mission.

Speaking about The Laity, their Life and Mission in June 1998, Pope John Paul II declared:

Therefore, as members of the Church you should realise that you are not merely invited to take part in the life and mission of the Church or encouraged to help Father in the Parish, it is your right and responsibility to share in that mission.

Similarly, Pastoral Councils and Teams have not been put into place by our Diocesan Synod merely to organise parish socials or run parish events - they exist for a far deeper reason than that! They exist to create communion in the Church. I am very pleased that many parishes in the Diocese are working hard to bring that about.

The former President of the Brazilian Episcopal Conference, Dom Luciano Mendes, SJ, said that: "Only in the concrete practice of ecclesial communion do lay people, religious and pastors discover their identity and co-operate with one another in such a way that each one can achieve his or her own mission, according to the vocation he or she received from the Lord."

Therefore, you play a key role in the life of the Church. You are the primary ones to take forward the mission of the Church. Mission and communion are the fundamental reasons for parish clustering.

It is unfortunate that the parish clustering process seems to be driven more from anxiety about dwindling numbers of priests, than a more positive attempt to meet a different understanding of our mutual mission. Even if we had plenty of priests, we would still need to work together in dramatic ways to create communion in the Church.

The fact remains that there is a dwindling number of priests. No matter what clustering may bring, we will all need to modify our expectations of our priests. We cannot expect them to do for two or more parishes what they have been doing for one, especially in terms of their attendance at meetings and the many demands of pastoral care.

By clustering parishes, I hope that everyone will see the great benefits of mutual encouragement, a shared vision for proclaiming the Good News, pooled resources to assist the life and mission of the Church. Smaller parishes have been finding it difficult to respond to the requirements of building a new image of Church.

This is not to say that small communities are not equal to the task and that large communities are better able to do so. On the contrary. Larger communities run the risk of being too cumbersome and anonymous, making it difficult to build communion and mission.

A careful balance must be maintained between small communities which should be encouraged and nurtured and the large parish which enjoys oversight and co-ordinates the smaller communities. Thus, a larger Parish is then seen as a community of communities.

We have ten Clusters of parishes in the Diocese. Each Cluster has a Team which meets to discuss the implications of clustering and plans further ways in which individual parishes can co-operate more effectively. Most of the clusters are now at the stage of discussing the options open to them with the parishioners in each of the parishes. I hope, when you get the chance, that you will add your wisdom to the discussions.

I expect to receive a report from each Cluster Team by Advent 1999 outlining progress and informing me which of three models the cluster has chosen to adopt.

Let me finish, conscious that Advent and Christmas are near, that you make use of these beautiful Seasons to await with Mary the birth of her child. Just as Mary, the woman of attentive silence pondered and listened to what the Spirit was revealing to her, so too must we listen to what the Spirit is revealing to us.

Her listening gave birth to the Word. May our listening give birth to new life in Christ for everyone in the Diocese.

I wish you every joy and blessing for Christmas and the New Year.

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