Plenary Council 2020 - 2021

10 11 WHO PARTICIPATES IN THE COUNCIL? WHEN IS IT HELD? There are two types of delegates: • Those who must be called: Includes active bishops, vicars general and episcopal vicars, religious superiors, deans, and rectors of major seminaries. • Those who may be called: Includes retired bishops, other clergy and lay people. Observers, advisors and consultants may also be invited. There will be a process for nomination of those who may be called which is yet to be decided. The Plenary Council Meeting is in two parts: Adelaide (2020) and Sydney (2021). HOWWILL OUR VOICE BE HEARD? The Plenary Process was launched at Pentecost in May 2018. • Between now and 6 March 2019: We are all asked to consider the question of “What do you think God is asking of us at this time?” Groups and individuals submit their responses to the plenary website or through the PO Box address. • All responses are read and compiled by the plenary team. • In May 2019, major themes emerging from our feedback are announced. Teams are formed across the country to consider these themes, and we are invited to consider the possibilities for how these themes can come to life in the future. • In 2020, these themes are consolidated into formal submissions to the Plenary Council where they are discussed and voted upon by the bishops. • In 2021 and beyond, we bring to life the decisions of the plenary. WHAT IS A PLENARY COUNCIL? A plenary council is the highest form of gathering that a church in a particular country can have. It is a process by which lay people and clergy can be heard. The last major assembly for the Catholic Church of Australia took place more than eighty years ago in 1937. A plenary is different from an assembly, in that it has legislative power, i.e. the final decisions of a plenary council become law and have binding power. The responsibility of making these decisions falls on the conference of bishops who do so only after discerning the will of the Holy Spirit with the people. Pope Francis expresses his hope “that all communities will devote the necessary effort to advancing along the path of a pastoral and missionary conversion which cannot leave things as they presently are.” WHY ARE THE BISHOPS HOLDING A PLENARY COUNCIL? • 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. • “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.” Archbishop Mark Coleridge • The bishops are asking for everyone to participate. We are encouraged to speak boldly and with passion, and to listen openly with a humble heart. Have you already watched Plenary Council 2020 - An Overview by Lana Turvey-Collins? Skip to page 12