Plenary Council 2020 – “Listen to what the Spirit is saying…”
The Catholic Church in Australia will be holding the first session of a Plenary Council this year on 4 - 11 October 2020, in Adelaide. This is an important gathering for the future of the Church in Australia.
There are many reasons why the Church in Australia needs this gathering. 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.
When the Australian Catholic Bishops announced the decision to hold a Plenary Council, Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge said that “the Church is not the presence in our society it once was. We need to take a measure of that and make decisions accordingly. The culture in which we have to proclaim the Gospel is very different to what it was even 20 or 30 years ago.”
It is being held in 2020 in order to give the Catholic community in Australia time to listen, dialogue and discern with one another and, guided by the Holy Spirit, about the future, the role and relevance of the Catholic Church in Australia.
The image above shows some of the issues present for our Church in 2020. They have been raised through a thorough process that has been taking place in parishes across the country.
More than 222,000 people participated in listening and dialogue encounters and contributed 17,457 submissions during the first stage of preparation for the Australian Plenary Council. From this, six National Themes for Discernment were developed. Each of these themes relate to how God is calling us to be a Christ-centred Church in Australia in one aspect. They are titled:
- Missionary and Evangelising
- Inclusive, Participatory and Synodal
- Prayerful and Eucharistic
- Humble, Healing and Merciful
- Joyful, Hope-filled Servant Community
- Open to Conversion, Renewal and Reform
What follows is a prayer for the Plenary Council:
Come, Holy Spirit of Pentecost.
Come, Holy Spirit of the great South Land.
O God, bless and unite all your people in Australia
and guide us on the pilgrim way of the Plenary Council.
Give us the grace to see your face in one another
and to recognise Jesus, our companion on the road.
Give us the courage to tell our stories
and to speak boldly of your truth.
Give us ears to listen humbly to each other
and a discerning heart to hear what you are saying.
Lead your Church into a hope-filled future,
that we may live the joy of the Gospel.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
bread for the journey from age to age.
Amen.
Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.
St Mary MacKillop, pray for us.
Louise East - Religious Studies Coordinator
