Dear Friends
CRA President, Br Peter Carroll FMS.
This is the last Pathways before the commencement of the first session of the Australian Church’s Plenary Council.
There’s been extraordinary energy and effort invested in preparing for only the fifth Plenary held in Australia. It all started with the question ‘What is God calling us to at this time in our Church’s history’? Individual and communal submissions were sought, accepted and processed. Opportunities were provided for people to meet and discuss. Information was processed and six themes identified: conversion, prayer, formation, structures, governance, institutions. Members were selected and formation opportunities provided to them. The Working Document (Instrumentum Laboris) was published and the agenda formulated. Detailed planning for a fully online First Session has been undertaken, with particular focus on a stable technology platform. And it all begins in less than 17 days’ time.
There’s been lots of commentary about the Council, some doubting whether it’ll achieve anything real and lasting. I’m sure you’ve heard such thoughts articulated. I prefer to take a more hopeful approach, believing that the Holy Spirit blows where she will, opening and shutting doors at times of her choosing. Now is the time for the Australian Church to undertake some serious soul-searching. We have been buffeted by scandals, loss of credibility, falling participation. Any organisation confronting such major challenges would pause and investigate; would look inside so it can continue its mission outside. Our leaders need to be congratulated and supported on taking this step. But it’s true that it is only a first step in a longer process of renewal.
Pope Francis has helped set the agenda. He’s no radical Pope but since his election, he has continually challenged us, all of us, to focus on the truly important: following Jesus, the Saviour, in word and deed, and reading the signs of our times. He’s called on us to take action to protect our common home and all creation; to be joyful in proclaiming the Gospel; to support refugees and the lost; to engage with others irrespective of their faith or nationality; to widen the tent of our heart and Church. He has spoken strongly against clericalism, describing it as a “real perversion in the Church…the very opposite of what Jesus did”. He’s commented on the tendency for “moral fixation on the sixth commandment. We focus on sex and then do not give weight to social injustice, slander, gossip and lies”. He’s actively promoted a strong synodal approach to Church governance and decision making and is leading through example. His words from Evangelii Guadium head the Plenary Council’s Agenda: ‘I dream of a “missionary option”, that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channelled for the evangelisation of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation.’ An extraordinary aspiration!
Obviously, there are differences of opinion and perspective within the Church. Whenever people gather there will be such differences. The Acts of the Apostles and Letters of the New Testament provide evidence of very early divisions…some Christians were for Cephas, some for Paul. In his address at the recent Mission: One Heart, Many Voices conference, Cardinal Tagle reminded us that the Church is about ‘people, not ideas’. There may be differences within but there’s no place for narrow and nasty politicking. There’s no place for us to be self-centred, or tribe-centred.
The Plenary Council is a time and a place for us to heed the directions of Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti. We are all sisters and brothers; for the benefit of ourselves, our Church and our world, we need to engage positively with others, to enter into dialogue, to listen and reflect. And we need to be open; not just open to listening, but also open to discerning and therefore open to changing our opinions. If that’s not the openness in evidence, then the Plenary will not achieve all it possibly can.
Let’s pray for the significant event that is on our doorstep. Let’s pray that the Spirit will gift us with a new Pentecost for the Church in Australia.
Br Peter Carroll FMS,
President, Catholic Religious Australia.