Panel: ECCLESIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS: PROPHETIC IMAGINATIONS AND ECCLESIAL FUTURES



75.2 - PROPHETICALLY REIMAGINING SYNODALITY IN OCEANIA

AUTHORS:
Cornish S. (Australian Catholic University ~ North Sydney ~ Australia)
Text:
Drawing on Sanga and Reynolds' (Sanga et al, 2024) Oceania Oralities Framework, this paper will consider the potential of cultural practices from Oceania such as Indigenous Australian yarning circles, *tok stori* in Papua New Guinea, and *veitalanoa / talanoa* in Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Tokelau, to prophetically reimagine synodal consultation, dialogue and communal discernment by moving beyond the euro-centric text-based approach of the Synod on Synodality. Identifying the critical dissonance of an ecclesial process aiming at universality but marginalising oral cultures, it suggests that synodality that can cultivate hope and action by embracing epistemological diversity.