At their Spring General Meeting the Irish Bishops’ Conference decided to embark on a synodal pathway for the Catholic Church in Ireland leading to the holding of a National Synodal Assembly within the next five years.

This synodal process will be one of listening, and journeying together aware of the challenges, hopes and opportunities that face the Catholic Church in Ireland.

One of the specific topics mentioned in the Bishops' announcement (read in full here) was:

Given this, it is 100% probable that members of CYMI will have "Synod" as an action point as part of their work over the coming years.

To start the ball rolling within the Catholic Youth Ministry community in Ireland, we will be hosting a webinar to give us a better understanding over the synodal process, where there will be opportunities for our involvement and the impact it will have on our work in the years ahead. Bishop Donal McKeown will be joining us to give us a better insight, not only has he been involved in the conversations that have led to this announcement, but he was also a 'Synod Father' at the most recent Synod of Bishops held at the Vatican in October 2018 on the topic of 'Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment', that resulted in Pope Francis' exhortation Christus Vivit!

Come and join Bishop Donal and Youth Ministers from around the country as we embark on this journey.

When: Thursday 25th March 2021, 12noon - 1pm
Where: At  your desk, in your car... wherever you can connect to Zoom!

Please register using the form below, information to join the Zoom meeting will be sent to you nearer the time.
*On some mobile devices the registration form may not appear, if that is the case click here.

 Join us for a virtual coffee break, Thursday 11th from 12-1pm - if that's your lunch time, feel free to bring that with you!

These are challenging times - in youth ministry, and in the wider context of our 'regular' lives: with family; maybe having to engage in homeschooling and e-learning; and not having our usual social contact with friends.

The ground keeps shifting, and the goalposts are constantly on the move... what was possible yesterday might not be possible tomorrow. Some of us are used to working in teams or community and now find ourselves sitting alone at a computer. Working with the young without presence or immediate feedback can be draining and so different from our usual.

As an attempt to combat some of this, and to build community and fellowship within CYMI, we're going to experiment with a Zoom 'coffee break' - Thursday 11th February @ 12noon - please come along for a chat, to share ideas, to let off steam, and to have some (virtual) human contact!