Calgary Word conference calls for community-facing Church

“What is the mission?”

Archbishop Paul-André Durocher of Gatineau posed that thought-provoking question to more than 300 Catholics from the Diocese of Calgary gathered for the Word Conference: Pilgrims of the Word at St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. Mary’s High School on Oct. 2 and 3.

The 72-year-old native of Windsor, Ont., offered possible answers during his three keynote presentations. He also urged all called to serve in the ministry of proclaiming the Word to share the Gospel message — the Kerygma — in a way that reveals Jesus Christ as “compelling and attractive” and the answer to the deepest desires of people searching for purpose.  

Advertisement

Durocher said evangelization is accomplished by a Church willing to go out into the world and meet the people where they are, akin to how Jesus encountered His disciples on the road to Emmaus. He drew attention to how Christ used His legs to walk with His followers, His ears to actively listen, His mind to understand their grief and His mouth to ask open-ended questions to guide them to the truth.

“When you speak about the Gospel and what is fascinating about Jesus, you have to speak to what is fascinating about Jesus to them,” said Durocher, who will celebrate the 30th anniversary of his episcopal consecration next March. “What’s fascinating to me might not be what’s fascinating about Jesus to them. We have to seek to understand them.”

Durocher cited quotes from Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI that, in their respective speaking styles, declared the age of Christendom is over. Christian values are no longer harmoniously integrated with societal institutions as they were for centuries.

Amid this reality, Durocher highlighted how every pope dating back to the Second Vatican Council has implored the faithful to re-embrace the missionary discipleship practiced by the earliest Christians rather than fixate on maintaining institutions.

“(Christianity) is centred on the person of Jesus,” said Durocher. “It is a movement of men and women who freely choose and engage to continue Jesus’ work, Jesus’ mission to bring about the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom of universal justice, peace and joy.”

Advertisement

Helping to bring about the Kingdom of God is “the heart of Jesus’ message,” added Durocher. The first proclamation of Christ in Mark’s Gospel is “the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

The work is not solely the province of missionaries who travel around the world. He said “the mission field is in your backyard.”

Illustrating this point, Durocher shared that archbishops and bishops are called to make the difficult decision to close a parish. When informing the congregation, certain members have made comments like, "don’t close this parish. My grandfather paid to have the steeple built.”

“I respect that,” said Durocher. “And I say, ‘you know, it would be a lot harder for me to close this parish as a bishop if the people who don’t come to church came to me and said, ‘bishop, don’t close that church. The people there contribute so much to our community life. They make such a difference. If you close that, our community is going to be deprived of their presence, their gift and of everything they bring.’ I couldn’t close a church like that.”

An outward-looking Church would also reflect the mission of the Rite of Christian Initiation and the catechumenate to prepare new Christians to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed.

“(With) these sacraments I’m immersed, anointed and nourished,” said Durocher. “All these acts kind of spring forth a way of being and choices in the way I’m living out my Christian life. This is what the catechumenate is about and why it should inspire everything we do in the Church.”

Advertisement

The final afternoon of the conference invited the clergy, catechists, Catholic educators, RCIA teams, parish leaders and other attending churchgoers to contemplate how they will actively assist in spreading the Word and advancing lifelong formation. The attendees chose from six available workshops: faith formation in childhood, adolescence and youth, young adulthood (18-40), adulthood (40+), special circumstances and through renewed RCIA.

Members of the general assembly also submitted proposals to the diocese about how their respective parishes could strengthen their efforts to proclaim the Word of God both inside and outside the Church.

(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)