How can the local Church reach the 83% of Catholics who no longer attend Mass on the weekend?

This remained one of the major concerns when Archbishop Edward Gilbert met with priests and parish administrators on December 11 to continue the dialogue on restructuring the Archdiocese.

The meeting, the fourth of its kind for the year, allowed for discussion on a wide range of topics including proposals for deepening solidarity, the post SEA Values and Virtues Programme and the reconfiguring of parish boundaries in the Eastern Vicariate.

Archbishop Gilbert outlined the procedure which has been followed in the distribution of the Pastoral Letter, Deepening the Spirit of Solidarity in the Archdiocese of Port of Spain.

He said the Letter was distributed first, to Heads of Departments, all priests and administrators; the Communications Commission and the Catechetical Office then conducted a joint training programme for those who were expected to facilitate conversations on the themes of the Letter in their parishes.

Fr Michael Moses (speaking), Archbishop Gilbert and Fr Gordon at the meeting

The Archbishop revealed that he wanted each family attending Christmas Mass to receive a copy of the Pastoral Letter as a gift from the Archdiocese.  

This gave rise to the question: “How are we going to cater for the 83% that do not attend Church anyway?”

It referred to the head count done during Lent this year which showed that on the weekend of the census only 17% of the Catholic population – based on figures from the Central Statistical Office – attended Mass.

One response from the floor was that the people who are in Church needed to be nurtured on Sacred Scripture and to pray so that they will reach out to the missing.

In the discussion that ensued on the implementation of the Solidarity Policy, one view that seemed to find resonance among participants was that while part of the plan called for priests to leave their parishes on a weekend and travel to a parish which does not have a resident priest, “different priests come and go” and this it was felt could not be good pastoral procedure. In the absence of a resident priest more has to be done to make the people cared for.

In response the Archbishop noted that priests are asked to give of their time three or four times a year in a parish outside their own. He commended the priests saying, “they not only celebrate the Eucharist, they visit the sick, administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation and do other kinds of pastoral ministry. This was not done a year and a half ago”.

The Vicar of Administration Fr Jason Gordon led discussion on the Journey to Synod 2008. In his overview, he noted that the process began when the Archbishop called the Church together for Synod 2003. It was as a result of the earlier Synod that new secretariats, commissions and councils were set up to address particular pastoral priorities.

At a second sitting, Synod 2005, the direction which the archdiocese would take was deepened as delegates reflected on the work of all Church departments and set a mandate for them.

The mandate outlined the expectation of the Church for each department at an archdiocesan level. The last resolution of the second sitting called for the Church to gather in 2008 to reflect upon the parish.

The process was kept alive in 2006 by assemblies at the parish and vicariate level on three areas of pastoral ministry – Catholic education, catechesis and family life. In 2007 a similar exercise has been taking place focussing on the areas of stewardship, social justice, Catholic communications, youth and evangelisation.

But it was a GIS consultation in October 2006 which set the path towards a reflection on the now dominant theme of solidarity, the subject of the Archbishop’s second Pastoral Letter.

At the next stage in the journey the archdiocese will focus on “The Mission of the Church in Trinidad and Tobago Today”, even as it continues to pay particular attention to the theme of solidarity.  Fr Jason noted that solidarity “is really a key, probably an indispensable key” to the mission of the local Church today.

“If the Church builds a culture of solidarity it will be an invaluable gift to the nation,” he said. “It will be the focus that will commit us to the Mission of the Church which is to lead all people to Jesus Christ.”

At the meeting the Vicar for Social Justice Fr Michael Moses reported on the progress of the Values and Virtues programme which initially targets students who have just entered secondary school.

It requires Catholic teachers to participate in the planned workshops so that they may be able to participate in the Abstinence curriculum, a template to facilitate a change in behaviour among the youth.

The meeting ended with the annual Christmas lunch.