From November 12-14, parish communities met for a national conference at Highgate House, Northampton, marking the culmination of Accompanying in Hope, a year-long journey seeking to discern God’s mission for each parish and strategise how to implement the Synod’s recommendation for a more inclusive, participatory Church.
The eight Jesuit parishes involved were Farm Street in Central London, St Anselm’s in Southall, St Ignatius in Stamford Hill, the polish residence and parish at Walm Lane, St Wilfrid’s in Preston, St Peter’s and St Joseph’s at Stonyhurst, Sacred Heart in Edinburgh, and St Aloysius in Glasgow.
Synodality, at the heart of the renewal that the Second Vatican Council was encouraging, is about the whole Church walking together, listening, reflecting, and acting as one community. Inspired by Pope Francis, the Synod on Synodality invites parishes to share responsibility, welcome every voice, and discern together how God is calling them to serve. The conference sought to help Jesuit parish communities integrate this approach by cultivating a culture of accompaniment, deep listening, and shared discernment.
Anne, a parishioner, expressed her hopes for the process: “My one deep desire is to enable us in our parish to be open to the many people who don’t know Jesus [...] and of course for that [we need help] to be attentive and listen.
“Coming to a conference like this reminds [us] of the deeper reasons that we are here [...] I hope to take back a deeper sense of working alongside other people across our own differences [and to work out how to practise] this new way of listening and seeing.”
Drawing on the Ignatian tradition of discernment in common, these sessions explored how “conversations in the Spirit” could be used as a tool for listening more deeply to one another and to respond to how the Holy Spirit is leading our parishes.
Spiritual conversation is an ancient method of prayerful reflection used in small groups, centred on a guiding question. It allows space for non-judgemental listening—both to one another and to the stirrings within—while remaining attentive to how the Holy Spirit is moving among us.
Conversations in small groups – facilitated by Fr. Matthew Nunes, who runs the School of Synodality in the Liverpool Archdiocese – focused on the practical question of how structures, such as the Parish Pastoral Council, can further embed synodal processes and promote co-responsibility in parishes.
Earlier this year, a series of parish-led workshops facilitated by community organiser Danny Curtin, introduced participants to five principles of spiritual accompaniment: deep listening, empathy, shared purpose, engagement, and spiritual support.
Accompaniment helps to integrate the practise of discernment in common into the life of the parish by ensuring that voices often overlooked are welcomed and heard.
The theme of spiritual accompaniment was further advanced at this conference through reflection on Pope Leo XIV’s Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te: On the Love of the Poor.
The document calls on the faithful to look and listen to one another with renewed eyes and ears, encouraging a conversion of heart to see Jesus in the face of the poor. It invites us to see the poor as “not only objects of our compassion, but teachers of the Gospel” (§79). The accompaniment of the poor is therefore an important source of renewal for the Church and for society.
Fr Peter Gallagher SJ, Provincial of the Jesuits in Britain, said: “The Jesuit parishes [...] help the poor, but they also learn from the poor. Those who have been excluded are welcomed in and what they have to say really makes a difference.” Fr Peter recently attended a meeting of Major Superiors in Rome, where Pope Leo encouraged the Jesuits to remain “at the frontiers” of the Church’s mission. The parish relates to this frontier because, as Fr Peter says, “[in the parish] we’re all somehow at the edge and at the edge we teach each other, we listen and we help each other.”
Participants were asked to have conversations in the Spirit reflecting on the question: What kind of poverty should we be attentive to? The poverty of meaning, connection, and purpose emerged as strong themes, showing that responding to the needs of the poor and listening to the Other are integrally related.
Many parishioners expressed a clear yet simple desire —a longing to “know the names of our brothers and sisters” and to welcome into the room those who are missing, reflecting a hope that everyone in the parish feels included and connected.
The commitment to accompaniment is shaping practical steps forward. Through “conversations in the Spirit,” parishes are building spaces where every voice can be heard. Welcoming these voices calls for a commitment to slow down, cultivate safe spaces, and offer opportunities for genuine encounter.
In his closing remarks, Fr James Hanvey SJ, a British Jesuit serving as Secretary for the Service of Faith in the General Curia, drew on the spiritual wisdom of St. Ignatius of Loyola from the Spiritual Exercises, inviting participants to stand back and “consider” all that has been received during the conference and throughout the year-long process leading up to it.
He encouraged participants to appropriate and deepen the dynamic of this conversation in the life of the parish so that they can journey together towards truly becoming the “Church of the Holy Spirit.” It is now over to parishes to carry on and develop what they have received from one another.
Jesuit parishes prepare for conference on Synodality | Jesuits in Britain
Jesuit parishes host workshops on becoming Pilgrims of Hope | Jesuits in Britain
