The Catholic Weekly 3 July 2022

catholicweekly.com.au Council is a key moment for Church What is the Plenary Council? A PLENARY Council is a gath- ering of the local Church that has both legislative and gov- ernance authority, and can pass binding resolutions or decrees. The fifth Australian Plenary Council has been convoked under canon law, and ac- cording to its statutes “aims to bring to fuller realisation within Australia the vision of the Second Vatican Council regarding the nature and mis- sion of the church”. What has happened to date? The Plenary has unfolded in a number of phases. The first phase, ‘Listening and Dia- logue,’ was an open listening exercise in which the Plenary asked the people of God in Australia, “What do you think God is asking of us in Austral- ia at this time?” Submissions were received from 12,758 individuals and 4699 groups. People aged 50 or over made up 44 per cent of individual submissions, while under-25s made up 14 per cent. Around 50 per cent of par- ticipants in this first phase were female, 30 per cent were male and the remainder didn’t state their sex. The second phase took this material and transformed it into the “national themes for discernment” through further writing and discern- ment groups, and from there transformed it into an Instru- mentum Laboris , or working document. The first assembly was held from 3-10 October 2021. Be- cause of the COVID-19 pan- demic it was held virtually. The key themes discussed at the first assembly were con- version, prayer, structures, institutions, formation and governance. Of particular im- portance was the discussion of “going to the peripheries” and listening to those hurt by the Church. The discussionwas at times quite vigorous, as the closing statement of the first assem- bly noted: “there is no short- age of passion and charisms among the community of be- lievers”. The drafting committee was tasked with transforming the first assembly proposals from small groups and indi- viduals into motions to be voted on at the second assem- bly. The final Framework for Motions was released in May. How will the second assembly work? The second assembly opens with Mass at the shrine of St Mary MacKillop at Mary MacKillop Place, North Syd- ney, on Sunday 3 July. The closing Mass will take place on Saturday, 9 July. Each day the 277 members will gather at St Mary’s Cathe- dral College Hall to debate and vote on each of the mo- tions in the framework. All members who aren’t bishops get a non-binding consultative vote on motions each day, which passes on a two-thirds majority. An ap- provedmotion is then referred to the bishops for a decisive vote the following morning, also on a two-thirds majority. The final decrees of the Ple- nary Council will be sent to Rome for review and approval before being published. Who participates in the Plenary Council? The president of the Ple- nary Council is Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Tim- othy Costelloe SDB of Perth. The vice-president is Bishop Shane Mackinlay of Sand- hurst, who was previously master of Catholic Theologi- cal College Melbourne. Each diocese has nominat- ed members to represent it at the Plenary Council. There are also a steering committee support staff, theological ad- visors ( periti ), canon lawyers and others to support the Ple- nary’s work. Members of Catholic Reli- gious Australia, the Church’s seminaries and universi- ties, Catholic agencies like St Vincent de Paul, and repre- sentatives from the Eastern Churches and other ecclesial movements are also present. What are the issues? The Framework for Motions has around 30 motions, the full text of which are available on the Plenary Council web- site. Key issues include an apol- ogy for victims of child abuse, the promotion of women, moves to incorporate First Nations Catholics more into the life of the Church and to endorse the Uluru Statement from the Heart , and an aware- ness of the need for “ecologi- cal conversion”. Further motions propose to introduce a “ministry of preaching” for lay people at Mass, increase the use of the communal “third rite” of rec- onciliation, and establish new governance structures. What does Synodality mean? The Plenary Council takes place alongside a change of emphasis in the Church, driv- en by Pope Francis, in the lead-up to the 2023 Synod on Synodality in Rome. The term synodality comes from Greek words meaning “to walk together” and sig- nals a shift from a “top-down” Church to one in which lay people and clergy are co-re- sponsible. Listening, dialogue, atten- tiveness to the “signs of the times”, spiritual discernment and openness to those on the margins are some of the hallmarks of the synodal ap- proach. Plenary 2022: Don’t miss out! Follow The Catholic Weekly’s extensive daily coverage, including interviews this coming week on: www.catholicweekly.com.au A Plenary has wide-ranging power and has gone through an extensive process to get to this week’s Second Assembly Plenary Mass times Each day Monday – Thursday 9am – 1pmAdoration in SMC 1.10pm Mass in SMC 6.00pm Mass in SMC Friday 7.45am Mass 9am – 1pmAdoration in SMC 1.10pm Mass in SMC Saturday Closing Mass 10.30am THE CATHOLICWEEKLY’S PLENARY 2022 EXPLAINER