“The Holy Spirit Cannot be Held to a Deadline,” says Malaysian Synodality Specialist after MPC 2026

The Malaysia Pastoral Convention 2026 (MPC2026) may have ended, but its synodal journey must continue through deeper listening, discernment and action, says Fr. Clarence Devadass, executive secretary of the FABC Commission for Synodality and Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur.

The four-day convention was held in Sibu, Sarawak, from September 9 to 13, bringing together about 850 Catholics from all nine dioceses of Malaysia, representing Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. The first national pastoral convention of its scale in Malaysia carried the theme “Celebrate, Listen, Walk Together,” focusing on communion, participation and mission through a synodal process.

Reflecting on the four-day convention in a column in Herald Malaysia, Fr. Devadass said the gathering was not simply an event involving those physically present. Catholics across Malaysia accompanied the process through parish prayer, the Perjalanan Salib, a Day of Prayer and Fasting, Conversations in the Spirit, parish pastoral assemblies and other preparatory conversations.

With the convention concluded, he posed the question, Quo vadis?, “Where do we go from here?”

Fr. Devadass said Catholics may understandably expect immediate answers about what was discussed, what decisions were made and whether new policies, programs or administrative changes will follow. But he cautioned against expecting the convention to resolve every question immediately.

Much of the listening at MPC2026 took place through the synodal method of Conversation in the Spirit, which he described as more than proposing ideas, debating them and voting. It was an effort to listen to one another and to the Holy Spirit.

“Such listening requires time. The Holy Spirit cannot be told that four days is the deadline for making everything clear!” he said.

The conversations brought to the surface concerns and hopes relating to family life, children and young people, the elderly, Catholic education, care for creation, poverty and people on the margins, the prophetic voice of the Church, interreligious engagement, and Malaysia’s political and social landscape.

Behind these concerns, Fr. Devadass said, is a deeper question: What kind of Church does Malaysia need to become for the future?

He noted concerns about whether the Church will remain relevant, particularly to younger generations, and whether parishes will remain places where people encounter Christ, families receive support, young people find a home, and marginalized people are welcomed.

He urged Catholics not to allow the momentum of MPC2026 to disappear while waiting for official decisions.

“Synodality is not built only through major structural decisions,” he said. “It is built through relationships, participation, listening and concrete acts of communion.”

He suggested practical steps at the parish and community levels: listening to young people, making pastoral councils genuine spaces for discernment, strengthening family prayer and conversation, supporting isolated elderly people, welcoming migrants and people living in poverty, and examining how communities can care for creation.

Fr. Devadass also warned against becoming spectators waiting to see what “the Church” will do after the convention.

“WE ARE THE CHURCH,” he emphasized, challenging Catholics to ask not only what bishops or Church structures will decide, but what each person is prepared to do.

For him, the conclusion of MPC2026 is therefore not the end of the journey. Catholics are called to move forward without having all the answers, but with a greater willingness to listen, discern and act.

“The MPC2026 has ended. But the journey has not,” he said.