Since its inception in 1973, the Auckland Diocesan Pastoral Council has been a “spectacular success”, in the opinion of a lay Catholic who was involved with it for 43 years.
Pat Lythe, who retired from the DPC in 2018, presented a short history of the council at a November 18 function celebrating its half-century and 200 meetings.
A celebratory dinner took place at St Joseph’s parish, Takapuna. Many present and past DPC members attended, as did Auckland Bishop Stephen Lowe. They also attended the parish vigil Mass just before the dinner. Bishop Lowe was the principal celebrant.
Mrs Lythe, who had not long previously undergone a knee replacement operation, told the gathering that the vision for diocesan pastoral councils came from the Vatican II document Christus Dominus (The Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church).
The document stated: “It is highly desirable that, in every diocese, a special pastoral council be established, presided over by the diocesan bishop himself, in which clergy, religious, and laity specially chosen for the purpose, will participate. It will be the function of this council to investigate and consider matters relating to pastoral activity, and to formulate practical conclusions concerning them.” (CD27)
Mrs Lythe noted that canon law spells out the consultative nature of such bodies.
After Vatican II, Archbishop James Liston asked Auckland Auxiliary Bishop Reginald Delargey to set up a steering committee in Auckland diocese, to implement the vision of Vatican II, Mrs Lythe said.
Under Bishop Delargey, a process was undertaken whereby “more than 33,000 people gathered in homes and parishes and newly established regional groupings, answering two questions. What are the fields of responsibilities open to the Church in New Zealand? What form should renewal of Church structures take, in order to achieve maximum efficiency in this work of working together?”
Out of this process came some 3500 remits, which were processed by a commission for the laity in Auckland.
“One of the first recommendations was to establish a diocesan pastoral council,” Mrs Lythe said.
“In March 1972, Bishop Delargey made parish pastoral councils mandatory throughout the diocese. And in August, he announced there was to be a diocesan pastoral council, which he set up in 1973.”
The first year of the DPC was spent establishing procedures and looking at reports coming out of the commission. It gave advice to the bishop on implementing those reports.
The then Cardinal Delargey moved to Wellington, and Bishop John Mackey, who succeeded him in Auckland, changed the nature of the DPC.
“Bishop Mackey said, ‘no, I want you to foster parish pastoral councils in the diocese, and to focus on two things; spiritual growth and pastoral care’.” He expected that the first part of every DPC meeting would be a reflection discussion on an encyclical or other Papal documents.
Among the issues the DPC considered while Bishop Mackey was the ordinary were; Communion in the hand, the need for an auxiliary bishop in Auckland, human relationship courses in schools, and working with the then-Senate of Priests.
Mrs Lythe noted that, in 1981, it was proposed that the DPC and Senate of Priests make a joint statement on the Springbok Tour.
“The bishops’ conference had already made a statement calling on the Rugby Union to withdraw its invitation to South Africa, and that Catholic people study the true nature of apartheid, and for the Government to intervene if the Rugby Union did not withdraw.
“The discussion about whether to issue a statement was heated and protracted, and eventually passed. The DPC rarely issued statements of its own, although their revised objectives said it could, but really it was there to be consulted by the bishop.”
Mrs Lythe said that statements by the DPC on their own were only issued in exceptional circumstances.
Under Bishop Denis Browne, the structure of the Auckland DPC was reviewed.
In 1987, the existing DPC was disbanded. Regional forums would be the electoral college for the representatives to the DPC, and the new DPC added five representatives from ethnic communities, two youth representatives, plus two Maori, two religious and a representative from the new Council of Priests, which replaced the Senate of Priests.
Among the focuses for Bishop Browne were inculturation, including biculturalism and multiculturalism. Mrs Lythe recalled the work that the DPC did on the Treaty of Waitangi, and its meeting at Waitangi. Work was also done on the vocation and mission of the laity, which led to the Renew programme. The DPC was also involved in the visit of St John Paul II to New Zealand.
An Auckland synod was held in 1989, and the DPC was asked to administer many of the canonical requirements around the synod, Mrs Lythe said. She became DPC secretary in 1992.
Under Bishop Patrick Dunn from the mid-1990s, the DPC was involved in the development and implementation of pastoral plans for the diocese. There was later a move to themed years, such as the Year for Priests and the Year of Mercy.
Another highlight which involved the DPC was the return of the remains of Bishop Pompallier from France to New Zealand early this century.
Working with overseas-trained priests in recent decades was noted. Another issue upon which the DPC deliberated was the introduction of the permanent diaconate in Auckland diocese. It did not support this move at the time, as it was considered that most of the functions performed by a deacon could be done by lay people.
A Fit for Mission diocesan plan was produced that was outward-looking to carry out mission. This was later updated to be more youth-focused.
In 2018, Mrs Lythe retired after 43 years of involvement with the DPC.
“So the DPC has been meeting now for 50 years, for 200 meetings,” she said in conclusion.
“It is interesting that, in the latest synod in Rome, right now, it is recommended that dioceses establish the diocesan pastoral council. We are way ahead of them. They have been places where lay people representing all parts of the diocese have sat down with the bishop in consultation and conversation. In my opinion, and . . . [of] all the bishops who have been involved, it has been a spectacular success.”
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