Renewed vision – new Church
People from parishes in Dublin and further afield attended the last two ‘conversations’ on renewing the Church, led by Gerry O’Hanlon SJ, in Manresa Centre for Spirituality. Gerry explored the vision of ‘Church’ that engaged the Second Vatican Council: while a new vision of collegiality and communio did emerge, the Roman Curia, which was supposed to implement it, did not do so. In his final talk Gerry outlined the current situation of the Church, with seven pointers for the way ahead. Acknowledging that many people had lost hope of real change ever happening (evident in some feedback from the participants) he argued that the power of the Spirit was evident in the conversion experience that was Vatican II. That same Spirit is calling believers today to renew the Church, no matter how challenging the task.