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Home » The Diocese » Pastoral Planning » Pilgrim Steps

Pilgrim Steps - The Pastoral Plan

The Report of the Diocesan Pastoral Strategy Group for Cork and Ross was launched on Friday June 10th, 2005, at the Great Southern Hotel, Cork Airport, Cork. The launch of the Report was experienced by representatives of all parishes and religious communities in the diocese. The keynote speaker was Fr Harry Bohan, Director of Pastoral Planning of Killaloe Diocese.

Diocesan Pastoral Strategy Group

The Cork and Ross Diocesan Pastoral Strategy Group (DPSG) was established by Bishop John Buckley in 2002 following a recommendation of the Priest's Council. The DPSG was asked to devise and recommend a pastoral strategy for the diocese in the light of on-going changes in society and the Church, with particular attention to the needs of the Cork and Ross Diocese and its parishes and people.

Its work included consulting widely with parishioners, religious and clergy. The Group's work plan for 2004 included a draft strategy which was produced as the basis of further consultations. The final report of the group i.e. a Diocesan Pastoral Strategy is now complete. It was presented to the bishop in early 2005 and published in June 2005. These pages contain the background and the group's work.

Chairman: Rev Tom Hayes, Diocesan Director of Communications. Secretary: Mr. Micheál de Barra. Rev Donal Cotter, CC, nominee of Priests' Council. Rev Christopher Fitzgerald, CC, nominee of Priests' Council. Ms Nóirin Lynch, Coordinator of Parish Pastoral Development. Vy. Rev Canon John K. O'Mahony, Director of Parish Pastoral Development. Ms. Henrietta O'Meara, SCALA team. Rev Kevin O'Regan CC, nominee of Priests' Council.

(Previous members of the group included Rev Patrick McCarthy and Mr. John McSweeney.)

The initial brief of the group, after further consultations with the bishop, was agreed as:
"To facilitate the development of a diocesan strategy to ensure the most effective ministry in our rapidly changing world."

During the Spring of 2004 (beginning in Lent), each parish in the diocese was asked to convene a meeting to discuss issues related to the draft pastoral strategy. In some parishes, existing Parish Councils or Assemblies took responsibility for convening and hosting these meetings.

Summaries of the DPSG draft document were available in parishes in the weeks before these meetings. The summary document also has the questions which were to be discussed at the parish consultation meeting. (See below for summary document)

Parishes received a template for this two-hour meeting, including a prayer, a summary of the document and the questions for discussion. The meeting needed a local chairperson to facilitate the meeting. This meeting provided three people (one male, one female and one person in 20s or 30s) to join one of the parish's priests or parish sister at two area meetings with the reps. from other local parishes and churches. They came with all the notes form the parish meeting plus a strong sense of the thrust of the issues and discussion. These area meetings were held in late April / May, 2005.

Area Meetings

The Area Meetings (of which there were seven) involved the people who have attended the local Parish Meeting in their own parish. These attended two night-time meetings in the one week at a local venue. Each area was comprised of about 10 local parishes. These meetings of about 40 people were led by outside facilitators provided by the DPSG. Questions were discussed and people were asked to contribute to the discussion on topics in the Proposed Pastoral Strategy which they were energised about. Copies of the full draft document were provided in advance of the meetings. Each area meeting was asked to provide three area parishioners and a priest or sister from one of the parishes to attend a full-day workshop in late May or early June at which the document was to be further developed and finalised.

June 2004 Consultation Meeting

The people coming forward from the area meetings (30 approx.) attended a one-day gathering in the diocese in June 2005 at which the final modifications were made to the Draft Pastoral Strategy Document. The meeting brought together the feedback from the earlier meetings and integrated it into the proposed Pastoral Strategy. The meeting was be facilitated by independent consultants. At the end of this meeting, the DPSG had the task of making adjustments and ensuring that the fruit of the consultation process has been gathered. The DPSG then began preparing the document for submission to the diocese.

Final Clergy Consultation

In October 2005, following a request from the Council of Priests, the Bishop invited the clergy of the diocese to a detailed conference about the Pastoral Strategy. The 2-day conference was held in Killarney and was facilitated by Martin Kennedy with support from the DPSG. Specific concerns of the clergy were aired and discussed. Document Approval and Promulgation. The Draft Pastoral Strategy was revised in the light of this detailed consultation process, and then submitted to the Bishop. Several meetings took place between the bishop and the DPSG to finalise an implementation plan to accompany the report. The Pastoral Strategy Document was printed and promulgated throughout the diocese in June 2005 (It is available for download here).

The DPSG Report
The Full Report
Bishop's introductory letter
Background of the Group and Report
Introduction to the Chapters
Parish as Pobal Dé
Parish Identity and Pastoral Areas
A Praying and Worshipping Community
Education, Formation and Evangelisation
Leadership and the Role of the Diocese
Implementation Plan
Appendix: Overview of the Diocese
List of Area Consultation Meetings
Extract of the Report (contains introductions, summary of each chapter, all the proposals and implementation plan)
Report Summary