2021T1W8 - Plenary Council Approaches

There are just 200 days until the opening of the first assembly of the Plenary Council. A Plenary Council is the highest formal gathering of all local churches in a country. Our Plenary Council 2020 [Now 20021] is being held so that we can dialogue about the future of the Catholic Church in Australia.

The Council preparations include this week’s release of Continuing the Journey, the working document -- or instrumentum laboris -- for the Plenary Council. The document draws from the richness of the voices of the People of God, captured during the Listening and Dialogue and Listening and Discernment phases, as well as papal writings, bishops' statements and key documents from within and beyond Church to inform the Plenary Council journey. It has been co-authored by Ballarat Diocesan Priest, Fr Kevin Lenehan.

Citing the working document, Archbishop Costelloe says it “invites the whole Church, and in a special way the delegates to the Plenary Council, into a deeper discernment which can help us hear the voice of the Holy Spirit emerging from the multiplicity of voices”. “Every part of this journey so far has been embedded in prayer and, similarly, I invite people to recognise the need to engage with the instrumentum laboris with an open heart, an open mind and a receptive spirit,” he said.

In addition to the document itself, a new podcast series featuring interviews with those on the writing team for Continuing the Journey and a reflection guide might be helpful. The reflection guide, which is a continuation of the guides at other stages of this journey, invites people to pray and discern with the document individually or in small groups. Our journey is national, but the local reflection has proven to be a source of great fruit.