The Dean of Brentwood Cathedral, Canon John Harvey, organised a series of four Lenten talks on the recent Synod on Synodality, which took place in Rome last October.
The first was by Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP (on Wednesday 21 February 2024) who was appointed by the Pope as the Guest Preacher and Spiritual Director for the whole Synod. The video of his talk has been unavailable until now.
Pope Francis, he said, sees the Synod on Synodality as a sign of hope for fractured humanity and wants its prayer and listening approach to filter down to dioceses and parishes.
In a question at the end about those who feel excluded, he talked about Amoris Laetitia and said: “There is absolutely no doubt that Pope Francis believes that everyone should be at home in the Church and no-one excluded.”
And to someone who felt that there was no space in parishes to enable this synodal listening and talking to happen, he said: “I think it is happening – organic change is slow. It is putting down roots, germinating. In God’s own time, the Holy Spirit will bring results that will astonish us.” His tip for listening to the Holy Spirit was that it requires a lot of silence. He reflected on the “utter importance of just being in the presence of God, not saying or doing anything”.