Papal envoys tell Canada’s bishops the ‘only authority is the possibility of service’

Canada’s bishops began their 2024 plenary assembly Sept. 23 with the ancient invocation of the Holy Spirit, “Veni Creator Spiritus,” but in their message to Pope Francis they spoke, in another Latin phrase, of a new “modus operandi” in the church.

The 79 bishops of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops met over five days at a conference center situated in the shadow of Mont-Sainte-Anne, close to the national shrine of the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, east of Quebec City. The location was chosen as the Archdiocese of Quebec this year is celebrating its 350th anniversary.

The first day of the plenary was the front-facing portion of the assembly, during which observers from other Christian denominations, partner organizations and media are invited to attend, but it also served as a day of tone-setting for the entire week.

In addition to the historic dimension in marking the Quebec anniversary, CCCB president Bishop William T. McGrattan of Calgary, Alberta, noted that Canada’s bishops also were gathered on the “eve of the second session of the Bishop’s Synod on Synodality in Rome and in anticipation of the Jubilee Year of Hope in 2025.”

These two events, the synod and the jubilee year, established the framework for both the opening day and the working sessions that were to follow.

Archbishop Guy Desrochers of Moncton, New Brunswick, is the episcopal point-person for Canadian celebration of Jubilee 2025 and spoke to CCCB planning for events in both Rome and Canada. Archbishop Desrochers noted that Pope Francis has directed the theme of the jubilee year to be “Pilgrims of Hope,” pointing toward the Christian virtue of hope because he knows that people are “in need of hope, because of war and poverty, and a lack of solidarity.”

“The intention of the pope behind the Jubilee 2025 is to give us hope in this dire world we live in,” said Archbishop Desrochers at a news conference.

“I think the purpose of this is to unite us, in fact, to go on pilgrimage is a way to unite us. In every diocese, we are trying to reach out to all the people so that they will celebrate,” he added. “Even if they can’t go to Rome, they can celebrate in their own diocese locally in many ways.”

Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, delivered the plenary keynote remotely from Rome. Using a language familiar from other addresses he has given on the synod, the cardinal spoke directly to the bishops about the implications of the “synodal process” for episcopal ministry.

The bishop is the “indispensable subject of the synodal process,” Cardinal Grech said, noting that the synod encourages a “healthy decentralization.” It is a “new scheme, new method,” but that “without the bishop there is no ecclesial discernment.”

Identifying “service” as the foundation of episcopal authority, he admonished the gathered bishops to “never forget that for the disciples of Jesus — yesterday, today and always — the only authority is the possibility of service.”

Over the five-day session ending Sept. 27, and which was closed to the public, the Canadian bishops were to spend two lengthy sessions discussing a CCCB “organizational review.”

“We will be receiving recommendations that are the result of a two-year process of research, review, consultation and discernment guided by the permanent council to see where and how we might improve the governance, administration and functioning of the conference. The steps of listening to the bishops and the CCCB staff has been in modeling the synodal method,” Bishop McGrattan said.

The first day of the XVI General Assembly concluded with a 15-minute bilingual address from the Slovenian-born papal nuncio to Canada, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, who told the bishops there is “no fruitful ministry without communion with the See of Rome.”

He encouraged continued support for local fundraising for the Peter’s Pence collection, especially considering the current “financial restructuring” at the Vatican. Above all, the nuncio encouraged fraternal and collegial relations among the Canadian bishops.

“Beyond organizational considerations and important sharing of resources, given that we wrestle with many pressing spiritual, moral and social issues, living as we do in a society characterized by polarization and division,” he said, “it is absolutely necessary that we bishops reserve and enhance not only the unity of faith and worship, but a collegiality that is affective and effective among ourselves.”

Archbishop Jurkovic concluded, “Know that you can always count on my prayer and nunciature to assist you.”

The previous day, the bishops joined Quebec Cardinal Gérald C. Lacroix and Pope Francis’ special envoy, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, France, for a solemn Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Notre Dame de Québec, in thanksgiving for the first Catholic diocese of North America.

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