We publish the transcipt of the videomessage that Cardinal Mario Grech addressed to the participants at the Irish National Synodal Assembly gathering this saturday 17th October 2026 in the Diocese of Meath.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, my dear brother bishops,
It is a great joy to greet you as you gather for this important moment in the life of the Church in Ireland. I am sorry that, after initially indicating that I would travel to be with you in person I am now unable to do so.
I have followed the Irish Synodal Pathway with particular interest and closeness from its early stages. When I visited Knock in 2024, I experienced something of the earnestness and prayerfulness with which you have undertaken your synodal journey. And perhaps, being from Malta, I feel a particular affinity with Ireland: two island peoples, each with a rich Catholic heritage, and each learning how that inheritance can become once again a living missionary force in a rapidly changing society.
Your Working Document tells the story of five years of prayer, listening and discernment around a deceptively simple question: “What does God want from the Church in Ireland at this time?” That is the question that must remain at the centre of all our deliberations. Synodality is about discovering what God wants of us, not what we ourselves might wish for. The title of your Working Document for today’s assembly places this question at the heart of the Irish process.
A few years ago, while the universal Synod was still underway, we spoke about the relationship between the Irish Synodal Pathway and the discernment taking place throughout the universal Church. At that time I suggested that, on questions still being discerned by the universal Synod, there could be wisdom in allowing that discernment to mature, and in waiting to receive its fruits. But this never meant putting synodality itself on hold, and I am glad to see that you did not do so. Indeed, I know you have made great progress in the intervening years in empowering and equipping the People of God for mission, especially through the many workshops and mini-assemblies you have conducted in all parts of your country.
Now, however, the situation has changed.
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The complete address in English is available here.