As the Church marks the end of the liturgical year this weekend, a Letter to the People of God from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference provides an update on work carrying forward the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, while awaiting the Holy See’s formal recognito of the Council’s decrees.
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, who served as the Plenary Council’s president, said while there is a keen desire to receive the Holy See’s recognitio, the Church in Australia has not been sitting idle.
“This letter to the People of God outlines just a selection of the initiatives that are being pursued, including diocesan synods and assemblies, national conferences and events hosted by various Church entities,” he said.
“As the letter says, ‘there are many participants in a shared journey which continues to unfold’.”
“In providing this report, the Bishops of Australia share their commitment to honour and implement the remarkable work of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia,” the letter says.
“It remains fresh and alive in our planning for the future. We look back in gratitude for the breadth of engagement on every level of the life of the Church and for the experience of encounter, listening and discernment (which lies at the very centre of a synodal framework) afforded by the experience of the general assemblies of the Plenary Council.
“We look forward with anticipation and hope that, with the promulgation of the Decrees of the Plenary Council, the Church in Australia will be graced with both a deepened experience of communion and participation, and at the same time a revitalised impetus to mission.”
Click here to read the Letter to the People of God
Click here to read more: Solemnity of Christ the King – 26 November 2023