The Irish Catholic bishops, as part of the Irish Synodal Pathway, released their synthesis report of a wide-ranging listening phase on 16 August. Prepared after countrywide consultations across the 26 dioceses of Ireland, the document is presented as an amalgamation of the reports from each diocese, 29 additional submissions and the results of a National Synodal Gathering which took place in July.
The report has been met with a mixed response. Under the leading question of “What does God want from the Church in Ireland at this time?” the synthesis reports provides no answer, but proposes much that people want from God and the Church. The report claims that the people want change. Reported in the Irish Times, former Irish President Mary McAleese described the document as “explosive, life-altering, dogma-altering, church-altering”, claiming that the report comes “not from the hierarchy, not from Rome, but from the people of God”.
