For the first time in several years, the diocese has once again established a Diocesan Pastoral Council.
The body was called together by Bishop Earl Fernandes, who presides over the council. Its existence will help the bishop gain practical wisdom on pastoral works in the diocese.
“I have high hopes for the pastoral council,” said Father Michael Hartge, diocesan vicar general and moderator of the curia, “that it’s not going to just be a report of various committees, but it’s really going to be a way for the council to come together and talk about … pastoral issues that are affecting the diocese that the bishop identifies.”
Bishop Fernandes’ four priorities include evangelization, vocations, Catholic education and formation, and social outreach.
The diocese’s council includes 22 members. Council members represent the diocese’s geographic and multicultural diversity of Christian faithful. Members include lay faithful, clergy and consecrated religious sisters.
“The fact that we have a majority of lay people on it, as well as priests and deacons and religious, demonstrates that it’s not meant to just be a lay pastoral council, but it’s a pastoral council for all the Christian faithful in the diocese,” Father Hartge said.
The new diocesan pastoral council is largely the result of a change in bishop.
The diocese’s last council was under then-Bishop Robert Brennan, now bishop of Brooklyn, New York. The council ceased after Bishop Brennan’s reassignment.
According to the Church’s Code of Canon Law, a council can be reconstituted if a bishop recognizes a need.
“Now was a good time for Bishop (Fernandes) to reconstitute fresh with new statutes and new members just because so much time had elapsed,” Father Hartge explained. “The change in bishops was, I think, a big reason why we haven’t had one.”
The new council first met last month on Aug. 16.
Its main task is studying issues concerning pastoral works in the diocese indicated by Bishop Fernandes. Members will consider such matters and propose practical conclusions to the bishop.
“I think that’s a way that will really use the gifts and talents of the members of the Diocesan Pastoral Council well and I think can really be advantageous to our ongoing pastoral planning,” Father Hartge said.
In the first meeting, members addressed expectations for the pastoral council. They also discussed the pastoral planning process currently taking place in the diocese.
The council will be responsible for writing a purpose and vision statement for the pastoral plan, which will take place for the next five years. A subcommittee was formed from the council to draft the statement.
As part of the diocesan pastoral planning process, faithful in the diocese are asked to participate in a pastoral planning survey, which remains open through Oct. 17.
The survey is accessible online at https://columbuscatholic.org/. A Quick Response, or QR code, is also available to scan and complete the survey.
The council anticipates meeting quarterly. Subcommittees might take on additional work between council meetings.
According to the Code of Canon Law, diocesan pastoral councils must meet at least once a year.
The council’s members include Emily Jaminet, who serves as chair, and Deacon Steve Petrill, director of the diocesan Office of the Diaconate.
Petrill, who also ministers at the Columbus St. Thomas More Newman Center near Ohio State University, said he hopes to bring his experience as a deacon to the pastoral council. He is hopeful the diaconate community can help with the council’s recommendations and what the bishop decides to do moving forward.
“Whenever the bishop asks me to help him, I’m always happy to help him by virtue of being a deacon,” Petrill reflected, “but also just for myself, I think it’s a really wonderful thing that the pastoral council is being restarted.”
Members were personally selected by Bishop Fernandes or highly recommended to him by the diocese’s deans. Priests serving as deans oversee the diocese’s 10 deaneries, which group parishes into regional areas according to geographic location.
Jaminet said she finds it “really beautiful” that the bishop assembled a team who is willing to serve and brings different perspectives.
“One thing that I really took away from the meeting is that there’s 23 counties that we’re serving,” she explained. “I think it’s very important, and we had some of the representation from the outer counties.
“You stand for so many more people than just central Ohio, and so, making sure that we listen to their voices and we see that larger vision.”
“Father Hartge and Bishop Fernandes really, I think, tried to and successfully were able to pull a group together that represents many different parts of the diocese,” Petrill concurred.
The council represents different diocesan regions, including rural and urban areas. It includes people of various ages – young and old – and its members are of various backgrounds.
“There was just a spirit of newness in the room,” Jaminet said, reflecting on the council’s first meeting, “and it aligned with why I was there as well.”
Jaminet is a wife, mother to seven children and parishioner at Columbus St. Andrew Church. She is an author, speaker, radio personality and executive director of the Sacred Heart Enthronement Network.
Her eagerness to serve was largely the impetus for accepting the bishop’s invitation to be on the council.
“Even though my schedule is already full, I immediately said, ‘Yes,’” Jaminet recalled. “Any way that we can serve is really important in the Church right now.”
Petrill said he is encouraged by the various kinds of expertise and gifts that council members bring to the table. He believes such gifts will serve the bishop well in offering feedback.
“You could tell everybody’s trying to do this for the right reasons,” he said of the first meeting. “I think it’s going to be a place where we’re going to be able to bring together these different perspectives, bring different needs together, make some recommendations and put those in front of the bishop for his consideration.”
“His goals should not sit in a vacuum or on a document or at an evangelization summit,” Jaminet added.
“They should be a part of how we witness and how we set up our goals – not just as a council but as a Catholic. It brought me a lot of hope and encouragement, and I think we’ll do a lot of good.”
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