Bishop Fintan Gavin has said a year-long process of prayer, listening and discernment across the Diocese of Cork and Ross is now providing a clear pastoral direction for the year ahead.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, the bishop said the initiative, which began in September with the feast of St Finbarr at Gougane Barra, was intentionally rooted in listening to God rather than simply gathering opinions.
“It was very much about listening to where God was calling us to be Church today,” Bishop Gavin said. “Not just listening to ourselves, but really trying to discern together.”
The process involved parishes, families of parishes, religious communities, schools, and young people across the diocese. Structured listening sessions were built around three key themes: baptism and initiation, the Eucharist, and the new families of parishes pastoral structure.
“We asked what was working, what wasn’t, and where people felt called to grow,” he said.
Although youth ministry was not a formal question in the process, Bishop Gavin noted that it emerged repeatedly.
“One question we didn’t ask, but which came up again and again, was about young people,” he said.
The feedback gathered through the listening process was compiled into a document of almost 300 pages, which has since been analysed and is now informing concrete pastoral actions.
“That work will, in many ways, become a charter for the year ahead,” Bishop Gavin said.
Among the priorities emerging from the discernment process is a renewed focus on baptism, not simply as a one-off event but as an entry into the life of the faith community.
“If we don’t get baptism right, everything else struggles,” he said. “We’re trying to help parents understand what it means to live their own baptism and to bring baptism back into the heart of the parish community.”
Renewal of Eucharistic life is also a major focus, particularly as the diocese prepares for the centenary of the Cork Eucharistic Procession.
“There’s a real desire to reinvigorate our Eucharistic celebrations,” Bishop Gavin said, noting that music, catechesis and preparation will all play a role in the year ahead.
The families of parishes structure, introduced during Bishop Gavin’s episcopacy, is also being refined in response to feedback.
“We’re looking at clearer collaboration across parishes and more intentional working together,” he said.
Reflecting on the process, Bishop Gavin said the year of listening has given the diocese a clearer sense of direction.
“If you had asked me this question last year, I wouldn’t have been as clear,” he said. “But because we’ve listened, really listened, we now have a sense of where to focus our energy.”
Ultimately, he said, the goal is a more outward-looking Church.
“My biggest hope is to make the local Church much more intentionally missional,” Bishop Gavin said. “The challenge is that we’re trying to move from maintaining structures to making disciples and that transition takes time.”
