"I am inspired by the wisdom that has been shared in Synod 2021-2024 so far, and am confident the Holy Spirit will guide and direct us as we establish a Diocesan Permanent Pastoral Synod in the Diocese of Victoria."

Bishop Gary's 2023 Pastoral Letter on the Diocesan Permanent Pastoral Synod announced the formation of the Diocesan Permanent Pastoral Synod (DPPS) at Pentecost 2023.

Over the months of 2023/2024, we established the Diocesan Permanent Pastoral Synod (DPPS) process. Each pastor/pastoral administrator with their parish has been asked to choose one or two Local Listening Facilitators. These people have been provided with training and guidance in the skills of listening and creating safe environments to ensure healthy dialogue. 

The first annual DPPS cycle began with the Fall Plenary on November 30, 2024, at St. Andrew's Cathedral. One Local Listening Facilitator from each parish met with the Bishop's Advisory Council and the Council of Priests to discern the questions that are being explored in this first cycle.

This cycle will repeat each year, ensuring our ongoing commitment to fostering a vibrant and engaged listening community.

Through listening circles and gatherings, parishioners, clergy, and facilitators have embraced the Holy Spirit’s call to hear one another’s stories, share blessings, and deepen their connection with Christ. From these encounters, the Diocese identified two guiding questions, along with an optional opening question, for the next phase of the Permanent Pastoral Synod in 2025:

Optional Opening Question: What is one story from your own faith and life that you would like to share? 

Question 1: What is your experience or connection with Christ, the Anointed One, in your faith journey?  

Question 2: How have you experienced blessings and hope in your life, in your parish, in your school, in your church, or in your family?  

Click here for a printable version of this letter.

January 2025

Dear People of God,  

The Jubilee Year 2025, themed 'Pilgrims of Hope,' offers us a beautiful moment to highlight and celebrate the progress of our Diocesan Permanent Pastoral Synod.  

As we embark on this Jubilee Year of Hope, we are called to journey together as the Pilgrim People of God, continuing to develop the graces and skills of being a truly listening Church. Walking together in the joys and challenges of life opens the Holy Doors of our hearts to receive God’s gifts, and receive our neighbours, through the Holy Spirit.  

The first Liturgy of the Eucharist in our Diocese was celebrated in 1788 by Father Magín Catalá O.F.M. in Yuqout on Nootka Island, among the Mowachaht / Muchalaht First Nations. From those beginnings through to today, there has been a great diversity of cultures and people in encounter with God’s word made flesh, Jesus Christ.  

The first peoples indigenous to these lands, along with newcomers from many cultures, all have hope for their lives, communities, and descendants. These hopes are complex, often even contradictory and divisive. As Timothy Cardinal Radcliffe O.P. reflected on in his October 2021 pre-synod retreat for the Synod 2021-2024 Assembly: 

“So we gather in hope for the Church and for humanity. But here is the difficulty: we have contradictory hopes! So how can we hope together? In this we are just like the disciples.

The mother of James and John hoped they would sit on the left and the right of the Lord in glory and so displace Peter; there is rivalry even within the closest circle of Jesus’ friends. Judas probably hoped for a rebellion that would throw out the Romans. Some of them probably just hoped not to get killed. But they walk on together. So what shared hope can we have at this synod?”  

I, as the Bishop, along with priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers, and pastoral administrators, must remain close to the people in our communities, listening to them and walking alongside them. Only together can we recognize effective ways to bring the good news and “announce the year of God’s favour” (Luke 4: 18-19). 

Since September 2023, through Listening Circles for parishioners, catechists, and family camp participants, and at the October 2024 Diocesan Faith Days, the Holy Spirit has affirmed the sacred gift of listening to one another and to God’s word.  

For the people who participated in these Listening Circles, a profound truth emerged: “I belong. My life and faith journey matter to God and to my Church.”  Moreover, many have felt inspired to say, “I have something to share, and it is both important and sacred.”  

On November 30, 2024, the Feast of St. Andrew (Apostle and martyr), Listening Facilitators from each parish, the Council of Priests, and the Bishop’s Advisory Council gathered in prayer and discernment to reflect on the blueprint for the proclamation and ministry of Jesus—and, by extension, the blueprint of how the Church must look, listen, learn, and love:  

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:  

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.  
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners 
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21)  

From this scripture passage, the group suggested dozens of possible questions that could be explored in Listening Circles. Bishop Gary and the Synod Team met many times over the following weeks to review the questions that were proposed, listen to the Holy Spirit, and discern the questions to be used in the first cycle of the Diocesan Permanent Pastoral Synod. Eventually, the dozens of suggestions condensed down to two questions that captured the essence of almost all the questions proposed at the Plenary, either implicitly or explicitly. 

These final questions—along with an optional opening question—will serve as the foundation of our Diocesan Permanent Pastoral Synod in 2025, guiding each member of the faithful to walk with greater hope throughout the Jubilee Year, and anchoring their focus on Jesus, the Anointed One: 

Optional Opening Question: What is a story from your own journey of faith and life that you would like to share? 

Question 1: What is your experience/connection with Christ, the Anointed One, in your faith journey?  

Question 2: How have you experienced blessings and hope in your life, in your parish, in your school, in your church, or in your family?  

As we look forward to the Jubilee Year of Hope and the launch of the 2025 Diocesan Permanent Pastoral Synod cycle, we journey together as Pilgrims of Hope, united by faith in Jesus Christ, the Anointed One. Within this diocesan synodal journey, Cardinal Radcliffe’s profound question—“So what shared hope can we have?”—will come to light in due time. Together, we will embrace the sacred gift of listening to the Holy Spirit and to one another, guided by love as described in 1 John 4:18: “Perfect love casts out fear.” 

I warmly invite everyone in the parishes of the Diocese of Victoria, our Catholic schools, and all people of goodwill to participate in the Diocesan Permanent Pastoral Synod. Your voice, your life, and your faith are vital to our shared journey as People of Hope, united in building a thriving community together. 
 
In Trust and Listening Grace, 

Most Reverend Gary Gordon
Bishop of Victoria

We have two ears and one mouth for a reason: To remind us that listening to each other should take priority over preparing our own responses.

Our listening circles are designed to foster true attentiveness to one another.

Inspired by Linda Staudt, one of only seven laypeople from North America to vote in the 2021–2024 Synod on Synodality, participants of the Diocesan Permanent Pastoral Synod are encouraged to reflect on Psalm 64: “To you, silence is praise.” Linda highlighted the power of silence as a tool for deep listening, inviting us to embrace its discomfort and let go of preparing responses or passing judgment. This process is called "Conversation in the Spirit."

In upcoming listening circles, the process will include:

1. Silent Reflection: Each question will begin with three minutes of silent reflection to allow participants to center themselves and consider their response.

2. Uninterrupted Sharing: Each participant will have a turn to share their reflection on the question, without interruptions, questions, or responses from others.

3. Deep Contemplation: After everyone has shared, there will be another three minutes of silence for participants to reflect on what resonated most deeply with them.

4. Second Round of Sharing: Participants will then have the opportunity to share what touched their hearts during the process, fostering deeper connection and understanding.

Click here to access a printable poster about the Conversation in the Spirit process.

Rather than a one-time listening exercise, synodality is an ongoing journey of renewal—calling us to listen, discern, and engage with one another in a spirit of communion. Guided by the Holy Spirit, this approach invites us to reshape how we interact, make decisions, and walk together as a faith community.

Watch the School for Synodality's video to explore the synodal way.

Dominican Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, former Master of the Order of the Preachers, reflects on the importance of "daring to listen" as part of the Church's journey of synodality.

Adsumus, Sancte Spiritus: Prayer of invocation to the Holy Spirit 

The prayer Adsumus Sancte Spiritus has been historically used at Councils, Synods and other Church gatherings for hundreds of years. Attributed to Saint Isidore of Seville (c. 560 - 4 April 636), its name comes from the first words of the Latin original, and mean: “We stand before You, Holy Spirit,”

As we are called to embrace this synodal path of journeying together, this prayer invites the Holy Spirit to operate within us so that we may be a community and a people of grace. For our gatherings, we will use a simplified version that any group can pray more easily:

We stand before You, Holy Spirit,
as we gather together in Your name.

With You alone to guide us,
make Yourself at home in our hearts;
Teach us the way we must go
and how we are to pursue it.

We are weak and sinful;
do not let us promote disorder.
Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path
nor partiality influence our actions.

Let us find in You our unity
so that we may journey together to eternal life
and not stray from the way of truth
and what is right.

All this we ask of You,
who are at work in every place and time,
in the communion of the Father and the Son,
forever and ever.
Amen.

Every parish and Catholic Island School will have a dedicated Listening Circles Coordinator.

Listening Circles will be organized by individual community Coordinators. To learn more about any upcoming Listening Circles, please fill out the form below.

If you’re unable to participate in a Circle in person, facilitators are hosting online Listening Circles on various dates beginning March 16. Please sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/dpps-online-listening-circles-tickets-1263055064699