The official logo for the Synod of Bishops. Image: CNS. Dioceses across Australia will this weekend hold launches to mark the commencement of local participation in the two-year journey towards the 2023 Synod of Bishops. Last Sunday, Pope Francis celebrated a Mass to launch the global process for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which has the theme “For a Synoda...

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”, according to a concluding statement from the first assembly.

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference President and Brisbane Archbishop Coleridge drew on the Gospel for Sunday’s First Assembly Closing Mass to see how the protagonist had similarities with the Council’s members.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjK3xTkvg7w An impassioned call for “a prayer for the future of our common home, a Gospel for the home of our future generations” was made during the final reporting back on small group discernment by Plenary Council members on Saturday 9 October. The presenters’ comprehensive reports on the 16 agenda questions included proposals and requests for furthe...

Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli has said the Council’s task is to reveal the face of Christ – a face that blends cultures, languages, ethnicities and histories. Image: Adobe In today’s Mass for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli has said the Council’s task is to reveal the face of Christ – a face that blends cultures, languages, ethnicities...

The Journey so Far As we conclude the First General Assembly of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, the process of discernment continues. From the opening Mass to the closing of the Assembly, our prayer has been ‘Come, Holy Spirit.’ The call to hear afresh the Good News of Jesus Christ through a spiritual posture of ‘deep listening’ has been a central element of the preparation of t...

Fr Richard Lennan is from the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese. Photo: Sourced. The concept of “sniffing out” the presence of God in the world, articulated by theologian Fr Richard Lennan in an address to the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, struck a chord with many members as they continued their discernment. Fr Lennan, a priest of the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese and an expert adviser to th...

Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB has this week spoken about the need for a Gospel culture in a special video interview.

By Fiona Basile, Archdiocese of Melbourne 23-year-old Jonathan Antony is participating in the daily online sessions in Perth, as he is preparing to marry fiancé Miriam McKenna in just a few weeks. Photo: Supplied. Jonathan Antony from Melton, from Melbourne's outer west, is one of the 17 members representing the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. The 23-year-old is participating in...