The Catholic Weekly 10 October 2021

catholicweekly.com.au 2 10, October, 2021 PLENARY COUNCIL AUSTRALIA’S CATHOLIC ter- tiary students issued a plea to Australia’s bishops and mem- bers of the Plenary Council which commenced this week to ensure a desacralisation of Catholic faith and practice is not aided by caving in to propositions which effective- ly place Jesus in second place to ideas fashionable among some Catholics. In a remarkably sophisti- cated theological letter issued on 1 October, the Feast of St Therese of Lisieux, they told bishops andPlenarymembers that perceptions expressed in many of the submissions to the Plenary over the last two years are not those of young Catholics in Australia today. The letter was signed by Claudia Tohi, the President of the Australian Catholic Stu- dents Association, ACSA’s ex- ecutive members and its na- tional Chaplain, several state chairs of the organisation, for- mer presidents, officeholders, alumni and students from all over Australia. A copy of the letter ob- tained by The Catholic Weekly on the day the Plenary began contained 134 signatures but organisers said that number was expected to grow signifi- cantly as the letter circulated more widely. They urged Council partic- ipants to not fall into the trap of effectively seeing the way forward for the Church as via “empty bureaucracy.” “In all humility, but with the force and ardour of our youth, recalling the words of St Paul to St Timothy (1 Timo- thy 4:12) we cannot but decry the submissions made to the Council to, in effect, destroy the Church,” the ACSA letter stated. “We acknowledge that many submissions sought ways to bring Christ to our neighbour in good faith. Nev- ertheless, many submissions ¾ Peter Rosengren Hold to the faith, sought to change teachings of the Faith solemnly defined by the Magisterium relating to is- sues of sexuality, life, or other moral issues and show a lack of faith in the Church and her Divine Founder,” the students wrote. “These submissions only confirm the crisis in faith and faith formation; that is, many Catholics lack basic catechesis and are unjustly deprived of the truths of the Church. We call upon the Ple- nary Council to show its uni- ty with the successor of Peter and the perennial teaching of the Church by condemning these submissions as its first action.” ACSA warned that the I n this edition Our story begins in 1839 with the Australasian Chronicle, continuing with the Freeman’s Journal in 1850. Level 13, Polding Centre, 133 Liverpool Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Phone (02) 9390 5400 | Vol 73, No 5205. The Catholic Weekly is published by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney ABN 60 471 267 587 and is printed by ACM Australian Community Media, 159 Bells Line of Road, North Richmond NSW, 2754. News Movies, books Archbishop’s homily Editorial & Letters 1-13 8-9 21 24-25 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Kenny (02) 9390 5348 EDITOR Peter Rosengren (02) 9390 5400 REPORTERS Marilyn Rodrigues (02) 9390 5410 Debbie Cramsie (02) 9390 5396 SUBSCRIPTIONS Rita Ng (02) 9390 5411 ADVERTISING AND MARKETING Steve Richards (02) 9390 5404 Katie Clarke (02) 9390 5402 DESIGNERS Renate Cassis Mathew De Sousa Faith in the trajectory of life catch it now at: thiscatholiclife.com.au Call Katie on (02) 9390 5402 www.catholicjobsonline.com. au Find the career you deserve DOWNLOAD THE OUR FAITH OUR WORKS APP Your one-stop location for Mass and Confession times, spiritual reflections and meditations, podcasts, local Catholic news, the Go Make Disciples mission plan, and much more. To download the app visit ourfaithourworks.org/app or scan the QR Code. The nation’s Catholic tertiary students call on Plenary members