Australian Plenary Council’s first assembly held
The first general assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia was held virtually from 3-10 October.
The 'spiritual conversations' of the assembly covered a broad range of thoughts and topics and the 278 members took part in the process of communal discernment and was the first plenary council to be held in Australia in 84 years.
National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins attended the assembly across six days and chaired the final plenary session.
Pope Francis sent greetings and blessings from Rome, his message was read out during the opening session which said the Plenary Council “represents a singular ‘journeying together’ of God’s people in Australia along the paths of history towards a renewed encounter with the Risen Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit”.
Plenary Council president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB said "it’s all been a marvel of technology; a mountain of superb work from so many people, and a maelstrom of words, insights, feelings, convictions and resolutions all with deep respect for each other, even and perhaps especially when we disagreed".
“But, above all, the assembly has been a monument to grace and faith, God’s grace and the Church’s faith in this fraught time," he said during the mass to close the Assembly.
“Through the journey of the Plenary Council and this week’s assembly, the Word of God has come to us as a call, every bit as much as it did to the rich man in the Gospel we have heard,” he said.
Archbishop Costelloe said to members the first assembly had been an exercise in the process of 'synodality' which Pope Francis describes as “walking together”.
“We have been walking together this week and in rejoicing in that, and thanking God for that, we can also ask ourselves how well have we avoided the danger of walking alone, or only in a small group of like-minded people?” he said.
“This week we have tried to discern together how we, the Church, can become more fully a clear, unambiguous and effective sign of this communion,” Archbishop Timothy said in a statement.
“All week we have been exploring together possible ways of re-casting ourselves, re-positioning ourselves, the Church in Australia, for this mission. And this exploration will continue," he said.
The months between the first and second general assemblies of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia are a time for “prayer, reflection, maturation and development”, noted in the concluding statement from the first assembly.