V. Communities in which true co-responsibility exists

Introduction

" Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, ... And to some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ" (Ep.4:3, 11-12).

The proclamation of the Gospel is the responsibility of all the baptized: priests, deacons, and laity. The Spirit of God is active in each one. The implementation of co-responsibility in all areas of pastoral life is a sign of hope for our Church. By this sign will our Church community be a Church of Communion, fully ministerial, a servant Church.

The priests are the immediate collaborators of the bishop. They are called to preside over parish communities and their Eucharistic celebrations. By their ordination, they represent, sacramentally, Christ as Pastor. For their part, the deacons embody, in a particular way, the diaconate of the People of God and represent Christ who came to serve. The implementation of a real sharing of responsibilities with the laity can mean for them changes in pastoral attitudes that are sometimes demanding. But it must be acknowledged that priests and deacons, ordained ministers, do not by themselves exhaust all the charisms necessary for the building of the Church.

And so, we cannot speak of real co-responsibility in the Church without the dynamic participation of the laity, women and men, in the choice and development of pastoral directions, in the decision-making that these imply, in the sharing of roles and functions. This requires a recognition of the diversity of ministries. Many lay persons already assume, and will assume still more in the future, pastoral and administrative responsibilities in our Church, and this in fidelity to their baptismal vocation. Some of them will be called upon to fill important pastoral responsibilities. Thus, the number of lay pastoral workers will increase in the coming years. An authentic co-responsibility and participatory leadership are carried on in a spirit of humility, of listening, and of respect for others, in freedom and in trust. Co-responsibility in the spirit of the Gospel is incompatible with the spirit of domination, of rivalry, of the search for power, or of intolerance. A real sharing of responsibilities rests on the acknowledgment of the equal dignity of the baptized, on respect for the diversity of charisms and of gifts of the Spirit for the service of the Mission: " to preach the Good News" (1 Cor. 1:17) and " to gather together in unity the scattered children of God" . (Jn.11:52)

The synodal process allowed thousands of baptized persons to anticipate and to hope for a new way of " building Church" , a new way of " being Church" . The proposals accepted by the Synodal Assembly express unequivocally a " new look" for our diocesan Church.