2022
Fifth Plenary Council of Australia closes
ACBC Media Blog
The nine-month celebration phase of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia ended on Saturday, with Council Members standing and applauding as president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB formally declared the Council closed.
Plenary Council ‘re-imagines the Church through a missionary lens’
ACBC Media Blog
Plenary Council president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has encouraged Council Members to continue relying upon the Holy Spirit as they move into the future.
Second Plenary Council assembly ends on high note
ACBC Media Blog
On the final full day of the Plenary Council, Members have celebrated the passage of almost all motions contained in the Motions and Amendments document that formed the second assembly’s agenda.
Announcement of voting outcomes due at 6.30pm
ACBC Media Blog
Due to additional changes in the program for the Plenary Council’s second assembly, no deliberative vote outcomes were announced within the assembly on Friday morning.
Blessed Peter To Rot hailed as model of fidelity
ACBC Media Blog
Those gathered for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia are following in the footsteps of the early Christians, Cardinal John Dew said at Mass on Thursday evening.
Plenary Council backs action on ecology, Church governance reform
ACBC Media Blog
Plenary Council Members have passed all six motions they considered on Thursday across parts of the agenda in the areas of Church governance and integral ecology.
Changes to program lead to change in voting plan
ACBC Media Blog
Due to a change in the program for the Plenary Council’s second assembly, no deliberative votes were cast on Thursday morning.
Homily urges Plenary Council Members to seek unity
ACBC Media Blog
As Wednesday’s proceedings came to a close, Members of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia were invited to remember the “saving unity” to which the Church is called.
Members will reconsider two Plenary Council motions
ACBC Media Blog
The Members of the Plenary Council have spent Wednesday afternoon working together to reconsider a pair of motions that were not passed earlier in the day.
Deeper discernment invited during Plenary Council
ACBC Media Blog
Members of the Plenary Council are being invited to spend additional time to discern after two motions did not achieve a qualified majority in voting that has taken place over the past 24 hours.
Members of Plenary Council pray for Christian unity
ACBC Media Blog
Members of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia were encouraged on Tuesday evening to embrace the “new and demanding urgency” of ecumenism.
Council Members hear wisdom from theological advisers
ACBC Media Blog
At the beginning of the second full day of the second assembly of the Plenary Council, members received input from two of the Council’s theological advisers — or periti — on topics being considered on Tuesday.
Outcomes of first six Plenary Council votes announced
ACBC Media Blog
The outcome of the initial rounds of voting for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia have been announced, with all relevant motions being passed with a qualified majority.
Ukraine front and centre in Plenary Council Mass
ACBC Media Blog
At the end of the first full day of proceedings, the Members of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia were invited to receive more deeply the Holy Spirit “who will console us and lead us to the truth”.
President gives opening address to second Council assembly
ACBC Media Blog
At the Council’s opening session on Monday morning, the Members of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia were invited to carry “a deep consciousness of who we are” as the People of God, called to discipleship in the Australian context.
Second Plenary Council assembly opens in Sydney
ACBC Media Blog
The Members of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia were urged to “cling to the cross” and “ask the Holy Spirit to help us” as they commenced the Council’s second assembly on Sunday evening.
Members set to gather for second Plenary Council assembly
ACBC Media Blog
The four-year journey of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia is about to reach its high point, with Members gathering in Sydney this weekend for the start of the Council’s second and final assembly.
Messages of prayer, hope accompany Plenary members
ACBC Media Blog
People from across the country are sharing their hopes and their prayers with the 277 Members of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia who will gather in Sydney for the second and final assembly next week.
Catholic, Christian leaders among Plenary Council observers
ACBC Media Blog
Leaders of the Catholic Church in the Asia-Pacific region and the head of the National Council of Churches in Australia are among those who will serve as observers at the second assembly of the Plenary Council.
Community invited to Plenary Council’s closing Mass
ACBC Media Blog
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB is inviting the Catholic community to attend the closing Mass of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia – the culmination of a four-year journey of renewal for the Church.
Motions framework published for second Council assembly
ACBC Media Blog
The 30 motions that will be considered during the second assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia in July, rising from four years of national conversation, have been published.
Catholics invited to surround Plenary Council in prayer
ACBC Media Blog
Catholics across the country are being invited to participate in a new prayer pilgrimage as the Church journeys towards the second assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia.
Plenary Council takes next step in discernment journey
ACBC Media Blog
The four-year journey of discernment for the Fifth Plenary Council took a step forward this week, with Council Members invited to reflect on proposals emerging from the Council’s first assembly, held in October.
2021
Brisbane Mass closes Plenary Council’s first assembly
ACBC Media Blog
A Mass celebrated by Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president and Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge has closed the first general assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia this morning.
Plenary Council’s first assembly ‘inspiring, challenging’
ACBC Media Blog
As he closed the formal proceedings of the first general assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia Saturday evening, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB reflected on a week that had been “inspiring, challenging and sometimes unsettling”.
Plenary members present final reports of first assembly
ACBC Media Blog
An impassioned call for “a prayer for the future of our common home, a Gospel for the home of our future generations” was made during the final reporting back on small group discernment by Plenary Council members today.
Plenary Council’s task: ‘Reveal the face of Christ’
ACBC Media Blog
Archbishop Peter A Comensoli in today’s Mass for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia has said the Council’s task is to reveal the face of Christ – a face that blends cultures, languages, ethnicities and histories.
Plenary members focus on mission in God’s world
ACBC Media Blog
The concept of “sniffing out” the presence of God in the world, articulated by theologian Fr Richard Lennan in an address to the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, struck a chord with many members as they continued their discernment.
Australia has helped shape Synod of Bishops
ACBC Media Blog
As Pope Francis prepares to launch the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, an Australian lay woman assisting the process says the Church in Australia has been a key supporter of the Synod.
A reflection for the Plenary Council
Catholic Outlook
On Sunday 3 October, the Plenary Council of the Australian Catholic Church will assemble for the first time. This is the end of a long process that began three and a half years ago. We now seem to live in a different country, in a different age. Its planning and initial stages began before the bushfires, before coronavirus, before the restrictions and lockdowns that have been part of our daily lives.
Plenary members focus on mission in God’s world
Melbourne Catholic
The concept of ‘sniffing out’ the presence of God in the world, articulated by theologian Fr Richard Lennan in an address to the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, struck a chord with many members as they continued their discernment.
Plenary Council journey one for ‘dusty, patient pilgrims’
ACBC Media Blog
Maronite Archbishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay OLM has spoken about the significance of the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Rite Church coming together as “pilgrims” for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia.
Plenary members consider how to bridge gap with Australia’s Indigenous
Catholic Voice
Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge has signaled that the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia will offer Catholic Church backing for an Indigenous voice in the nation’s constitution.
Plenary Council: Women’s role in the Church
Catholic Voice
I am a proud Maronite Catholic, who, like much of my generation, has strong connections to the Latin Rite as well. I’m humbled by the opportunity to represent women from both Rites at this Council.
On this Plenary pilgrimage, humility and gratitude will enable us to serve the Lord
The Catholic Weekly
Brothers and Sisters in Jesus-Christ our Lord, “Who, then, is the faithful and wise slave whom his master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time?”
Plenary Council to contemplate woundedness, seek new peripheries
ACBC Media Blog
Day four of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia will take on a different feel, as members spend extra time offline, praying with and reflecting on questions about seeing through the eyes of those who have been abused and reaching those on the peripheries.
Integrating Indigenous Spirituality, a focus of the Plenary Council
Melbourne Catholic
In the voices of our group today, we heard the Spirit saying that being Indigenous and being Catholic are not two separate ways of being: they are two elements of spirituality that exist side-by-side for the First Nations People within our Church community.
Wednesday Plenary: What you might’ve missed
Melbourne Catholic
On Wednesday 6 October, the third morning Plenary was livestreamed for public viewing. In case you weren’t able to tune in, here are a few things you missed.
Members unpack big questions facing the Church
ACBC Media Blog
The 278 members of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia have continued to break open the 16 questions related to how we can create a more missionary, Christ-centred Church in Australia at this time.
Council Members begin communal work of discernment
The Southern Cross
“Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst…” This is the message behind the prayer resources that have been developed for the First Assembly of the Plenary Council by Mercy Sister and Director of Liturgy for the Archdiocese of Perth, Sr Kerry Willison RSM.
Council Members begin communal work of discernment
ACBC Media Blog
The first “spiritual conversations” of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia covered a broad range of thoughts and topics from Baptism being the place for fundamental conversion to the need for the Church to tend to its past and current failures.
Archbishop Fisher: ‘Be Powerhouse of Prayer’
ACBC Media Blog
As the first general assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia nears the halfway point, Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP has preached on the power of prayer and trust in the Holy Spirit.
Sense of hope, responsibility as Plenary assembly begins
ACBC Media Blog
Restricted to being a virtual assembly due to the pandemic, members in Adelaide said they felt fortunate to be able to still gather throughout this week at Archbishop’s House.
Council members begin work of communal discernment
ACBC Media Blog
The first “spiritual conversations” of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia covered a broad range of thoughts and topics from Baptism being the place for fundamental conversion to the need for the Church to tend to its past and current failures.
Australia’s grand experiment in synodality opens amid hopes, challenges
Crux
ROME – Long before “synodality” became the buzzword of this pontificate, and long before a world-wide summit on the topic was called for by Pope Francis that’s being described as his legacy, the Catholic Church in Australia was getting ready to launch its own major synodal moment.
Pope sends blessings to historic Church event
ACBC Media Blog
Pope Francis has sent greetings and blessings from Rome as the program for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, the first such event in this country in 84 years, began today.
‘Listen deeply’ for the Holy Spirit, Plenary Council members advised
The Catholic Leader
ONE of the youngest participants in Australia’s historic Plenary Council meeting is taking seriously the advice “to listen deeply for the voice and to be alert to the leadings of the Holy Spirit”.
St Francis a model for Australia’s Plenary Council
ACBC Media Blog
On the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, Bishop Shane Mackinlay has said the saint that so loved creation and those living in poverty can inspire the work of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia.
Australian Plenary Council opens with call to be courageous
UCA News/Catholic News Service
In their Plenary Council process, the Catholics of Australia have been called, like the biblical patriarch Abraham, “to step into a future which he could not control and which he did not fully understand,” said Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of Perth.
Australian bishops begin nine-month Plenary Council
Catholic News Agency
The Fifth Plenary Council of Australia kicked off Sunday with an opening Mass in Perth to begin its first assembly taking place online Oct. 3-10.
Opening Plenary: 3 things you might’ve missed
Melbourne Catholic
On Monday 4 October, the Opening Plenary Session kicked off the main portion of the Plenary Council’s First Assembly. For those who weren’t tuned in to the live stream, here are three highlights you missed.
Catholics in Australia urged: ‘Become true disciples’
ACBC Media Blog
As Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB opened the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, he said Catholics “must become, even more than we are already, a community of true disciples”.
Catholic community invited to share in Council journey
ACBC Media Blog
People across Australia and beyond will be able to follow the progress of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia through Masses and livestream sessions when the first general assembly opens this weekend.
Campion President named adviser on Plenary Council
ACBC Media Blog
Dr Paul Morrissey has been appointed as an adviser to the Fifth Australian Plenary Council from next month.
A Gift Of God – The 5th Plenary Council of Australia
Catholic Voice
What is the mark of the Holy Spirit?… of God’s Spirit? In the gift of the Plenary Council, we have a blessed time to recognise this answer. This week we ask and listen: What is the Spirit saying to the Church in Australia?
Hopes at the dawn of the Plenary Council First Assembly
ACBC Media Blog
“Walking together” (synod/synodality) is the “language” of our Council and of our Church. We are like the Emmaus disciples (Luke 24, journeying but with a sense of anticipation of more to be discovered. We know that this walking together does not simply refer to our feet.
EXCLUSIVE: Historic Plenary Council Opening Mass to be celebrated in Perth
The Record
After nearly five years of planning and 84 years since the last plenary council in 1937, the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia will open with Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral this Sunday 3 October at 11am WST.
Looking back to the Plenary Council of 1937
Catholic Voice
Most people are surprised to hear that there have been four previous councils, but the most recent was held in 1937, probably well before any of the current participants were born!
Your guide to the Plenary Council
The Southern Cross
There are many reasons for having a Plenary Council: Pope Francis has invited the local Church to dialogue; the contemporary society of Australia has changed significantly; and the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse has been a significant and influential event that requires deep consideration and response.
‘Spiritual conversations’ will aid Plenary Council discernment
ACBC Media Blog
A key component of the Plenary Council’s assemblies will help members to consider the 16 questions that make up the Council agenda.
In Plenary Council, Australians search for ‘a new way of living as church’
Crux
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of the listening and dialogue phase of the Australian Catholic Church’s Plenary Council, 220,000 Australians answered the question, “What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this time?”. In 2015, Australian Archbishop Mark Coleridge was asking himself something similar. Australia was in the midst of a government-mandated investigation into sexual abuse in the church. Australian Catholics were leaving the church.
Sharing hopes with Members of the Plenary Council from Diocese of Parramatta
Catholic Outlook
For the first time in 84 years, the entire Catholic Church in Australia is gathering to make important decisions about the future. This gathering, the First Assembly of the Plenary Council, will bring together voices, opinions and hopes from all around the country and encourage listening, dialogue and discernment.
Archbishop Costelloe: ‘Pray with us and for us’
ACBC Media Blog
Plenary Council president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB is inviting Catholics across Australia to pray with and pray for Council members during the upcoming first general assembly.
Advisers, chairpersons named for Plenary Council
ACBC Media Blog
Some of the country’s leading Catholic thinkers have been engaged to support the members of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia when they gather for the first general assembly early next month.
Youngest member prepares for historic Plenary Council
ACBC Media Blog
A quietly-spoken 20-year-old university student and youth minister from the regional New South Wales city of Orange is set to make history in October as the youngest member of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia.
Priest hopes Council will reawaken the baptised
ACBC Media Blog
As the Church in Australia journeys towards the first assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, the first since 1937, the question asked by many is how the Church has changed since that last gathering.
How Australia made the journey to a plenary council
ACBC Media Blog
There have been times when I wondered if we would ever make it. But after all the delays and changes of plan, we have come at last to the first assembly of the Plenary Council, which has quite a pre-history.
Technology in place for first Plenary Council assembly
ACBC Media Blog
Despite large parts of the country being in lockdown, those planning the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia say all is in readiness to deliver the first assembly in October wholly online.
Religious Leaders Commissioned ahead of Plenary Council Assembly
Catholic Religious Australia
Over 120 people gathered on Zoom on the 4 August in a Commissioning Ceremony of the 45 members of Religious Congregations and Institutes of Apostolic Life who are preparing to attend the forthcoming Assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia.
On the road to the Plenary assembly
The Southern Cross
Prayer and her belief that the Holy Spirit is guiding the process is helping Kiara Ryan prepare for her participation in October’s Plenary Council assembly – that and everything she will learn while on the road with her family in the coming months.
Plenary Council members share their hopes for first session in October
THREE Brisbane-based religious women and men will bring the voice and experience of their vocation to the Plenary Council’s first session in October.
Bishop Vincent: ‘My hope for the Plenary Council’
Catholic Outlook
With a few months to the first session of the long-awaited Plenary Council (PC2020), we are finally headed down the home stretch. The initial phase of listening drew nearly 220,000 people across Australia and 17,500 individual and group submissions.
Plenary Council agenda calls for missionary, Christ-centred Church
ACBC Media Blog
The agenda of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia calls those attending the Council assemblies to “develop concrete proposals to create a more missionary, Christ-centred Church in Australia”.
Australian bishops formally convoke Plenary Council
ACBC Media Blog
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has formally convoked the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, with its president Archbishop Mark Coleridge signing the required decree on Pentecost Sunday.
Prayer campaign launched for assembly countdown
ACBC Media Blog
People across the country are being invited to join a months-long prayer campaign in the build-up to the first assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, starting on October 3.
Assembly crucial in shaping future of local Church
The Southern Cross
A Diocesan Assembly planned for September, together with the ongoing Plenary Council, will play a “crucial” part in shaping the future of the Catholic Church in Australia, according to respected local theologian Fr James McEvoy.
Catholic Church must embrace ‘synodality’
The Tablet
Embracing a synodal model of the Church is “messy” but it offers the only path to a “future that’s worth having”, says a leading Australian bishop.
Working document released for Plenary Council journey
ACBC Media Blog
The working document for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia provides a catalyst for the Church to renew the journey of prayer and discernment toward the first assembly in October, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB says.
Catholic youth have a ‘deep yearning for Christ’ says plenary delegate Chris Lee
The Catholic Weekly
Sydney’s youngest Plenary Council delegate, Chris Lee, said there is a ‘deep yearning for Christ’ among Australia’s Catholic youth as he shared his experience in youth ministry – a perspective he hopes to voice at the council in October.
Flame of Plenary comes to Parramatta
Catholic Outlook
On Thursday night, the nine delegates who have been appointed from the Diocese of Parramatta for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia met face-to-face for the first time and received the Plenary Council flame.
2020
Flame of Plenary comes to Parramatta
Catholic Outlook
On Thursday night, the nine delegates who have been appointed from the Diocese of Parramatta for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia met face-to-face for the first time and received the Plenary Council flame.
Plenary Council assembly mixes in-person, online format
ACBC Media Blog
The first assembly of the Plenary Council will take place with a combination of online and face-to-face participation as uncertainty remains over restrictions on travel and gatherings.
Discernment, an ongoing journey for delegate
The Record
Plenary Council President, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB addressed the delegates at a recent prayer, discernment and dialogue session, on 4 November.
Reflecting on a Synodal Church
The Southern Cross
Acting Chancellor and Plenary Council local coordinator Sarah Moffatt said the forum was also an opportunity to start preparing for a Diocesan Assembly next year and the re-engagement of a Diocesan Pastoral Council.
Archbishop: Advisers helped shape Plenary Council journey
ACBC Media Blog
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB says the executive committee that has helped guide the Plenary Council journey to this point have set the Council up to be a source of renewal for the Church.
Armidale commissions Plenary Council delegates
Cathnews
Armidale Diocese’s Plenary Council delegates were commissioned at a Mass at Saints Mary and Joseph Cathedral in Armidale on Sunday.
Forum planned for Plenary journeys
The Southern Cross
Plenary Council local coordinator Sarah Moffatt said COVID-19 had thrown many unexpected challenges in 2020, including the postponement of the first assembly of the Plenary Council until October 2021.
Darwin Diocese commissions Plenary Council delegates
ACBC Media Blog
The Diocese of Darwin last night became the first local Church to commission their delegates for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, the first assembly of which will open in Adelaide in 12 months’ time.
Plenary lay delegates discuss their hopes, dreams for the process
The Record
Two Plenary Council Perth lay delegates feature in The eRecord’s latest podcast recording on Friday 11 September for an in-depth discussion about their hopes and dreams for the process.
Plenary Council may be delayed but the thematic papers show the fruit of communal discernment
The Record
The Church’s Plenary Council 2020 assemblies may have been delayed due to COVID-19, but six writing and discernment groups have been busy, using their diverse expertise and backgrounds to write thematic papers.
The importance of the need to be an evangelising Church in Australia was emphasised at a recent free Plenary Council seminar, titled “Towards the Plenary Council 2020: Understanding a Missionary and Evangelising Church.”
PLENARY COUNCIL: Discernment captures perfectly the task
The Record
The key to what we can do and must do to contribute to the rebuilding and renewing the Church lies in a careful consideration of what fidelity to the Lord and the Lord’s will for the Church look like.
Discernment papers help sharpen focus for Plenary Councils
ACBC Media Blog
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB says the six discernment papers for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia signify the latest milestone as the Church considers its present circumstances and discerns its future.
Plenary Council Sessions Postponed Until 2021 and 2022, an Opportunity to Use ‘Extra Time Wisely’
ACBC Media Blog
The long-anticipated Plenary Council 2020 sessions, the first of which had been scheduled for this October, were pushed back to October 2021 and April 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dates locked in for Plenary Council assemblies
ACBC Media Blog
The two assemblies for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia will be held in Adelaide from October 3-10, 2021, and in Sydney from July 4-9, 2022.
Discernment ‘is not comfortable’
Melbourne Catholic
Taking time out to pray and discern is deeply counter-cultural – even for an institution as old as the Catholic Church, says Plenary Council 2020 facilitator Lana Turvey-Collins.
Plenary Council assemblies set for 2021 and 2022
ACBC Media Blog
The two assemblies for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia will now take place in October 2021 and April 2022, following the disruption of the original schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Queensland theologian looks to plenary council with hope for renewed spirit of Second Vatican Council
The Catholic Leader
Reverend Associate Professor Ormond Rush: “The Church needed to renew itself in order to be more pastorally effective and would speak to the realities of people’s lives in the mid 20th century then, but in any age.”
Diocese rep a voice for parishioners
mnnews.today
Only 267 delegates throughout Australia have been called to attend the Plenary Council sessions. Ms Gibson will be representing the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, along with Helen Belcher, Bishop Bill and Fr Andrew Doohan..
Albany Creek parishioner Tom Warren wants to bring youth issues to the plenary table
The Catholic Leader
Albany Creek parish youth co-ordinator Tom Warren took one look at the list of Brisbane archdiocese’s Plenary Council 2020 delegates and thought, “Oh my gosh, those are some fantastic people”.
First assembly of Plenary Council postponed
ACBC Media Blog
In response to the dramatic changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the bishops of Australia have made the “difficult, but necessary” decision to postpone the first assembly of the Plenary Council.
Delegates named for celebration of Plenary Council
ACBC Media Blog
Plenary Council president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has written to more than 250 other Catholics across the country, calling them as delegates for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia.
Student Plenary Assemblies – Archdiocese of Brisbane
Archdiocese of Brisbane
From late 2019 to early 2020, 29 Catholic Secondary Schools from regional and metropolitan areas of the Archdiocese of Brisbane joined together as part of the Plenary journey through a process of Communal Discernment. This is a snapshot of that Plenary experience.
2019
Discernment and Writing Groups draw on Church’s talent
ACBC Media Blog
Seventy people from across the country – including a dozen bishops – will serve on the six Discernment and Writing Groups that will help the Plenary Council build towards its first session in October 2020.
Time to ‘Listen and Discern’ for Plenary Council
ACBC Media Blog
Plenary Council president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB says the involvement of Catholics across the country remains critical as the Council’s Listening and Discernment stage ramps up.
Adelaide visit part of Plenary Council preparations
ACBC Media Blog
The Bishops Commission for the Plenary Council and its Executive Committee have met in Adelaide for the first time, 14 months before the Council’s opening session in the South Australian capital.
Plenary Council process gets a rural perspective
ACBC Media Blog
Catholics in the Western Australian diocese of Geraldton have provided a strong rural voice during the preparation phase of the three-year Plenary Council 2020 process. The Geraldton Diocesan Conference 2018, drawing on Psalm 118, adopted the theme of “Lamp for the Steps and Light for the Way: Listen to God and each other as we light the way forward.”
Dioceses join in the Plenary Council spirit
ACBC Media Blog
Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Bill Wright has convoked a diocesan synod commencing in November this year, one of a number of events around the country building towards the Plenary Council and beyond.
Faithful tell Plenary 2020 they want a Christ-centred Church
Catholic Weekly
After consulting more than 222,000 of the Catholic faithful on what they think God wants of the Church in Australia, six National Themes have been discerned for consideration by Plenary Council 2020. The Themes show a “clear desire” for a Christ-centred Church, president of the Plenary Council Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, said.
Applications open for Plenary Council discernment groups
ACBC Media Blog
On July 1, the Plenary Council opened applications for the Discernment and Writing Groups that will play a critical role in helping the Catholic Church move forward in considering the Council’s six National Themes for Discernment.
Broken Bay launches Year of Discernment
Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay
The Diocese of Broken Bay, from where a very large number of submissions to the Plenary Council came, has launched a Year of Discernment. The period has been dedicated to discernment in order to “discover together the concrete path that God is calling us on as individuals and as a community of Christians”, a diocesan statement said.
Source: Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay
Perth Catholics called to fidelity, second Plenary phase launched
Catholic Archdiocese of Perth
The Archdiocese of Perth was quick to launch the second phase of preparation for the Plenary Council — Listening and Discernment — with a special Mass on June 2, the Feast of the Ascension.
Plenary Council 2020 take a major step forward with release of national themes for discernment
The Catholic Leader
PLENARY Council 2020 has moved into its next preparation phase with an announcement of six national themes for discernment that emerged from a historic process of listening to the voices of more than 222,000 people.
Announcement of National Themes for Discernment opens next phase for Plenary Council
ACBC Media Blog
The Plenary Council 2020 moves into its next phase of preparation today with the announcement of the National Themes for Discernment that emerged from a historic process of listening to the voices of more than 222,000 people.
Discernment helps voices transform into Plenary Council themes
ACBC Media Blog
A combination of data analysis, prayer and reflection has helped the Plenary Council 2020 process move from the voices of more than 222,000 people across the country to a number of National Themes for Discernment.
Listening and Dialogue ‘landmark moment’ for Church
ACBC Media Blog
While people were still sharing their stories of faith and of God with the Plenary Council last night and the final numbers won’t be known for a couple of weeks, the Council’s Listening and Dialogue stage is considered a “landmark moment” for the Catholic Church in Australia.
Five weeks left for Listening and Dialogue phase
ACBC Media Blog
Plenary Council president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB says he’s expecting another flood of responses from people across the country during the final five weeks of the “Listening and Dialogue” phase of the Council.
2018
Christmas Massgoers invited to share story, shape future
ACBC Media Blog
With Catholic parishes across the country set to be full to overflowing next week, the Christmas season is being seen as a great time to increase participation in Plenary Council 2020.
November surge takes Plenary Council numbers past 30,000
ACBC Media Blog
The Plenary Council 2020 received more than 2000 submissions during November, matching the number of responses the landmark process had received in the previous five months combined.
Seeking a Plenary Council fit for purpose
Eureka Street
“What we need is a listening and inclusive Church — a Plenary Council at which the clergy and the laity have a proper place at the table, at which the voices of the ‘rusted-on’ and the ‘cheesed-off’ Catholics are heard and at which the bishops are respectfully listening as much as speaking,” Fr Frank Brennan SJ writes.
Listening to the Spirit: 10,000 voices and climbing
ACBC Media Blog
Momentum is building as the Church reaches the midway point of the Open Listening and Dialogue phase of preparations for the Plenary Council in 2020.
Melbourne parish takes outreach to next level
Melbourne Catholic
Parishes, dioceses, ministries, schools and other Catholic groups across Australia are coming up with creative ways to promote the Plenary Council and get people involved. One Melbourne parish has taken it to the streets, erecting billboards.
Youth ministers embrace Plenary process
Catholic Outlook
A gathering of 400 youth ministers has used the Plenary Council’s Listening and Dialogue process to craft a submission to the official Plenary Council process, but also to inform their own ministry.
Townsville locals see great potential in Plenary Council
ACBC Media Blog
The northern Australia tour continued for Plenary Council facilitator Lana Turvey-Collins recently when delivered five sessions over three days in the Townsville Diocese, presenting to more than 130 people.
Dozens gather in Cairns for Plenary Council conversation
ACBC Media Blog
More than 70 people from across Far North Queensland came together in Cairns last week in the latest of regular diocesan gatherings that are helping local communities commence the three-year Plenary Council process.
Pope Francis sends blessings as Plenary Council process begins
ACBC Media Blog
Pope Francis has sent his support and blessings to the Catholic Church in Australia as it commences a three-year process to consider its future through the Plenary Council 2020.
Adelaide will host opening Plenary Council session in 2020
ACBC Media Blog
The first of two historic national gatherings to consider the future of the Catholic Church in Australia will be held in Adelaide in October 2020, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has announced.
Perth Archdiocese set to launch Plenary Council process on 26 May
The Record
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB will launch the 2020 Plenary Council process this month during the Vigil Mass of Trinity Sunday on 26 May at 6pm. In announcing the launch, Archbishop Costelloe affirmed this will be a momentous occasion for the Catholic Church in Australia and carries with it the hopes, dreams and aspirations of everyone involved.
Plenary 2020 to shape the future of the Catholic Church in Australia
The Catholic Weekly
The Plenary Council in 2020—as the highest form of communion possible between local churches and dioceses within a country—will actually determine Church legislation in Australia.
New ACBC president to make sure ‘Jesus is at the heart of everything’
The Catholic Leader
“The Plenary Council isn’t a talkfest; it’s a time to discern, decide and act. If we do that under the influence of the Holy Spirit, things will change in unexpected and hope-filled ways.”
WA leaders come together to talk Plenary 2020
The Record
Leaders from across the WA Catholic community have gathered to talk about and prepare for the upcoming Plenary Council scheduled for 2020, themed “Listen to what the Spirit is saying”.
Plenary Council 2020: Our Journey in Faith
Broken Bay News
Broken Bay Diocese director of evangelisation Daniel Ang explains how the Plenary Council 2020 will unfold – and particularly how Broken Bay will prepare for and participate in the process.
Port Pirie, Broome lead the way for Plenary Council
ACBC Media Blog
More than 200 people from remote and rural parts of Port Pirie Diocese in South Australia have met for the first major gathering since the announcement of the 2020 Plenary Council.
Pope Francis approves Plenary Council for Australia
ACBC Media Blog
Pope Francis has given his approval for the Catholic Church to hold the first Plenary Council – the most significant national gathering that can be held – in Australia in more than 80 years.