From vision to action: Charting the path for Pastoral Renewal

What does it mean to embrace and live out renewal in our parishes? This question was the focus of the Diocesan Renewal Leadership Team’s two-day retreat at the FCJ Centre in November 2024, as they prepared for the pastoral planning phase of the Renewal journey. Since 2023, this dedicated team, including the Bishop, has met biweekly to lead Renewal efforts across the diocese through prayer, collaboration with parish leaders, resource development, and accompaniment. They remain available to support Parish Renewal Teams and assist any parishioners seeking guidance or information about this transformative journey.

Members of Diocesan Renewal Leadership Team:

• Bishop William T. McGrattan
• Dr. Bonnie Annicchiarico, Chair (St. Mary's, Brooks)
• Fr. Tim Boyle (Vicar of Clergy)
• Dorothy Burns (St. James, Okotoks)
• Fr. Wilbert Chin Jon (Moderator, CPC)
• Fr. Fabio DeSouza (St. Peter's, Calgary)
• Deacon Marc O'Loughlin (St. Anthony's, Calgary)
• Huy Nguyen (Office of Pastoral Ministry, CPC)
• Lia O'Hara (Office of Communications, CPC)
• Ryan Schmidt (Sacred Heart, Strathmore)
• John Wasch (Calgary Catholic School District) 

To connect with any team member, email [email protected].

After a nourishing dinner at the FCJ Centre, the Diocesan Renewal Leadership Team got to work. Drawing from parish renewal journeys across dioceses and fruitful initiatives by parishes, lay associations, and communities, the team discussed ways to bring renewal to life, now entering its second year. 

The next day, after Mass with Bishop McGrattan in the Catholic Pastoral Centre, discussions focused on the Renewal timeline, outlining steps from preparation and training of Parish Renewal Teams (PRTs), drafting parish renewal plans, and finalizing them by June 2025. This process emphasizes prayer, collaboration, and feedback, with a diocesan-wide celebration launching the mission in October 2025 and ongoing reviews in the following years. ​

​Key Focus Areas for Year II of the Pastoral Renewal:
​

• Pastoral Planning Process:
  • Guide the discernment and development of the Parish Pastoral Renewal Plan, to be completed by June 2025, as a response to the Holy Spirit’s call to renewal within the life of the parish.
  • Accompany Parish Renewal Teams in their mission to foster ecclesial communion and pastoral vitality.
  • Establish a framework for assessing growth in discipleship, ministry engagement, and missionary outreach in alignment with the Renewal timeline.
• Leadership Development:
  • Cultivate intentional leadership formation and mentorship, rooted in the call to servant leadership, to equip parish leaders for the work of evangelization and the building up of the Body of Christ.
• Synodality and Baptismal Vocation:
  • Animate the life of the parish through a synodal vision, journeying together in communion, participation, and mission.
  • Renew the understanding of Baptism as a sacrament of ongoing conversion and missionary discipleship, fostering a spirituality of collaboration, intentionality, and transformation in parish life.​ ​

Trusting in the Holy Spirit, let us step forward with hope, courage, and a renewed commitment to Renewal. 

~Diocesan Renewal Leadership Team
(Missing in the photos: Fr. Tim Boyle, Dorothy Burns, and Deacon Marc O'Loughlin)