Eighteen members of the first Dublin Diocesan Pastoral Council (DDPC) were commissioned for ministry on Lay Ministry Sunday, May 18. This event is the result of an extended period of “prayerful discernment,” as mentioned during the ceremony.
Patricia Carroll, Pastoral Coordinator in the Archdiocese, emphasised the role of the Diocesan Council. “This is different from Parish Pastoral Councils in that it is called to collaborate with the Archbishop in a co-responsible way about pastoral issues and development in the diocese. All who were called to serve on the DDPC have a remit to always keep the common good of the diocese in mind,” she explained.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Ms Carroll explained that “The main challenge will be right sizing the diocese for mission and building ministries across the diocese. As it is the largest diocese in Ireland, this is a great challenge across the five pastoral areas of the diocese. Those who have been called forward have great experience and gifts to meet this challenge with the Archbishop.”
One commissioned member, Bruna from the Shalom Catholic Community, told this paper her personal testimony of how she came to this role. “The Shalom Vocation was born at the feet of John Paul II when our founder, in 1982, offered his life and his youth for the evangelisation of young people and the poor. Today, some years later, the Lord has invited and called me to this Vocation, and it couldn’t be any different! At the feet of our bishop, I also offer my life.”
Bruna recounted how “I never imagined it would be me. But since Our Lord loves to work with insufficient instruments, here I am. I want to respond to the Lord’s call for what He desires from us. As the Shalom Community here in Dublin, I make myself available to go wherever the Church sends me.”
The establishment of the DDPC is rooted in the documents of Vatican II, according to a document written by the Commission for Pastoral Renewal and Adult Faith Development, in 2007, and in the ongoing synodal process initiated by Pope Francis.
