The promotion of a Synodal Church also depends on the formation of priests because “If we are promoting a synodal church, It also means the priests that we form today have to be men who can also excel in collaborative ministry,” suggests the Auxiliary Bishop of Pretoria Archdiocese.

In a conversation about synodality in priestly formation Bishop Masilo John Selemela suggests that a Synodal priest is a man who can “excel in understanding himself as a man of communion, a man who unites, a man who encourages inclusivity within the mission.”

A Synodal Priest is a man who promotes co-responsibility, a church “where all people who are in the parish can find space to participate in the mission of the church,” said Bishop Selemela in a conversation with the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) Communication office.

From April 28 to May 2, 300 parish priests identified by the Bishops’ Conferences and the Oriental Catholic Churches participated in a worldwide meeting entitled ‘Parish Priests for the Synod’, held at the Fraterna Domus in Sacrofano, near Rome.

At the end of the 5-day meeting promoted by the General Secretariat of the Synod and the Dicastery for the Clergy, the parish priests met with Pope Francis and had the opportunity to share their visions and hopes for synodality in the different communities they minister to across the world.