Three hundred parish priests identified by the Bishops' Conferences and the Oriental Catholic Churches will participate in a worldwide meeting of listening, prayer and discernment promoted by the General Secretariat of the Synod and the Dicastery for the Clergy, in accord with the Dicastery for Evangelisation (Section for First Evangelisation and New Particular Churches) and the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, have decided to organise an international meeting for representatives of parish priests entitled "Parish Priests for the Synod. An international meeting”. This encounter will have the aim of listening to and valuing the experience parish priests live in their respective local Churches, and to offer them an opportunity to experience the dynamism of synodal work at a universal level.

The meeting will take place from Sunday, April 28 to Thursday, May 2, 2024 at the Fraterna Domus in Sacrofano, near Rome. On Thursday, May 2, the Holy Father will receive the participants in audience.

As we prepare for the World Meeting of Parish Priests, we present to you the program and the experts who will be accompanying the meeting. They are:

• H.E. Msgr. Pablo Virgilio DAVID (#Philippines) #Bishop of #Kalookan
• Rev. Benedict NDUBUEZE EJEH (#Nigeria) #canonist ,
• Mons. Tomáš HALÍK (#CzechRepublic) #spirituality
• Rev. Gilles ROUTHIER (#Canada) #theologian
• Dr. María Lía ZERVINO (#Argentina) #sociologist

At the request of the Holy See, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) was asked to submit a list of priests who have been involved in promoting synodality in their local parishes in order to send to the meeting. The Permanent Council of the CCCB selected the following three priests to represent Canada:

Rev. Fabio DeSouza
Diocese of Calgary
Pastor, Our Lady of Fatima Parish

Rev. Pierre Ducharme, O.F.M.
Diocese of Vancouver
Pastoral, St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Richmond

Rev. Daniel Ouellet
Diocese of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière
Pastor, priest-moderator of the Unité Missionnaire de l’Ouest of the diocese of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière

Locally, the Archdiocese of Montreal is proud to congratulate one of its own for his recent appointment as a Table Facilitator for the World Meeting of Parish Priests. Fr. Raymond Lafontaine, who currently serves as Episcopal Vicar for the English-Speaking Faithful and director for the Office for English Pastoral Services, received news of his role from the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops last month. This will be Fr. Lafontaine’s “first return to Rome since the canonization of Brother André, in October 2010” and he looks forward to taking part “in this historic gathering.”

With great joy and all our support, we wish Fr. Lafontaine, E.V., a safe and blessed journey, keeping him and all participants in prayer as they embark on this important encounter and opportunity for international dialogue.

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