By Fr. Irudaya Jothi SJ

Kolkata: The Archdiocese of Calcutta held a historic synod to ‘re-discover’ and ‘re-design’ the will of God for the Church in the eastern Indian metropolis.

The September 26-30 synod was attended by 161 delegates representing 58 parishes in the archdiocese along with priests and religious.

“Entrusted to the Lord, established by Him” was the theme of the synod held at the Morning star Regional Seminar in Barrackpore.

It was convoked by Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta on March 1 this year.

The archbishop in his inaugural address said the synod was the follow-up of a directive from the Conference of the Catholic Bishops of India that urged each member diocese to evolve a pastoral plan in tune with the call for renewal given at the Vatican II.

, “Adapting the quote of Pope St. John XXIII at the opening of the Sacred Vatican Council, I wish to say: “Mother Church rejoices that, by a singular gift of Divine Providence, the longed for day has finally dawned on which, under the protection of the Virgin Mother of God, the Morning Star, the Diocesan Synod of the Archdiocese of Calcutta, is solemnly opened”.

The conference had approved a pastoral plan for the entire Church in India in February 2013.

The same year the Calcutta archdiocese evolved its pastoral plan in tw stages: Parish Pastoral Plan and Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan. The first phase was launched on March 21, 2013 in the Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary.

The archdiocese used many tools animation of the parishioners, including a set of 12 booklets in English and Bengali.

The booklets addressed doctrinal and pastoral aspects of 12 concerns needed for formulation of the archdiocesan Pastoral Plan.

The concerns were Christian Life, Ecumenism and Inter- Religious Dialogue, Education, Environment and Social Justice, Evangelization, Family, Healthcare, Laity, Small Christian Communities, Social Communication, Women and Youth.

The delegates deliberated on these concerns especially Education, Women, Social Justice and Environment and proposed action plans for the diocese.

They were divided into ten groups and took up four concerns each per day for deliberation. They came up with important action plans for each propoposal.

These proposals were then put to vote through secret ballot. Approved proposals along with suggested action plans were presented to the archbishop.

The archbishop on his concluding remark said that a core team would study the proposals within a month and present to him an achievable Five-Year Action Plan for each of the twelve concerns.

The archbishop said he would declare the five-year plan on November 26 on the occasion of ‘Corpus Christi Procession.’