Pastoral Plan

This weekend we celebrated the Feast of Pentecost – the birthday of the Church! To celebrate, Archbishop Dunn invited all the faithful to help our Church grow by inviting others to know Christ – just as the Apostles did that first Pentecost! In his message to the faithful he offered greetings but also an invitation:

To help the people and parishes of the Archdiocese focus their ministry, Archbishop Dunn designated four pastoral priorities: Parish Identity, Homelessness, Evangelization, and Catechesis.   Would you like to know more about these priorities?  You can!

Knowing who you are is important. As followers of Christ, we know we are sons and daughters of Christ, individually. Yet we live our faith communally as part of a parish.  What is the identity of your parish. In the last 18 months, the parishes of the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth have not only lived a new reality in light of a global pandemic but ALSO as new parishes. 

 “For you always have the poor with you...” Matt 26.11

We heard Jesus express this to his Apostles in Matt’s gospel only a few weeks ago.  The phrase is as true for us today, as it was then. We know everywhere around us there are many who go without or have to make difficult choices about what basic necessities they can afford. Living through a global pandemic has only highlighted the needs of those who are vulnerable.  If the poor are always with us, then as followers of Christ today we must always seek ways to help those in need.  When Archbishop Dunn moved to Halifax, he was struck by the number of poor and vulnerable he came across as he walked down the street. Moved by this new-to-him experience he reflected on what he could do, and what we as a people faith could do.

In January Archbishop Dunn shared with the faithful four pastoral priorities that he asks us all to focus on this year.  The four priorities are Evangelization, Homelessness, Parish Identity, and Catechetics.  From many these are familiar terms, for others the words may be new.  What is also important is to know what is meant by each of these words.

Last week, Archbishop Dunn sent a letter to all clergy sharing the areas he is asking all the faithful to focus on this year.  They are:  

Today Archbishop Mancini releases the new document titled: New Parishes: Stronger Together. This is the next phase of our three year diocesan pastoral plan, Equip the Saints. As part of this document, the Archbishop has included a letter that sets the context for our next steps. The letter dated January 1, 2019 – Feast of Mary the Mother of God, begins: