Gathering in the name of Jesus, more than 350 worshippers congregated for Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral on Sunday 4 October to witness the commissioning of 12 local delegates who have the privilege of representing the Archdiocese of Perth in the upcoming Plenary Council as representatives of religious congregations and other Church bodies.

Saint John of God Health Care Group Manager Mission Integration West Tara Peters facilitated in a prayer, discernment and dialogue session with Plenary Council delegates on 4 November. Photo: Max Hoh. Plenary Council delegates have gathered on 4 November for yet another opportunity to pray, discern and reflect as they prepare to represent the voices of the Perth Catholic community. This ...

Plenary Council is a “mission of love”, said Mercy Sister Kerry Willison RSM, Director of the Archdiocesan Centre for Liturgy as a keynote speaker during one of the six Plenary Council seminars held on 5 November at Newman Siena Centre.

“At the heart of the Plenary Council, in its preparation stage (presently underway), in its celebration stage (the two formal Assemblies) and its implementation stage (to be undertaken at both the national level and, more importantly at the local level), we find the call to, and challenge of, discernment. Both the call and the challenge are captured very well in the fundamental question of the Plenary Council and in the foundational theme of the Plenary Council.

This is the second part of the article on the 1937 fourth Plenary Council of Australia and New Zealand, the seventh in the series on the councils of the Catholic Church in Australia held between 1844 and 1937. It examines the preparation, proceedings and decrees of the Council, the decisions which followed it, and the efforts to evangelise Australia’s Aboriginal peoples.

The newly-formed Archdiocese of Perth Plenary Council Strategy and Engagement Group, responsible for contributing their thoughts on developing local strategies for further engaging the Archdiocesan community with the next stage of the Plenary Council, scheduled for 2021 – have last month convened for the first time.

Gathering in the name of Jesus, more than 100 worshippers congregated for Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral on Sunday 4 October to witness the commissioning of 12 local delegates who have the privilege of representing the Archdiocese of Perth in the upcoming Plenary Council (PC) as representatives of religious congregations and other Church bodies.

Perth Catholics can expect a day of prayer, reflection, listening and discussion at an upcoming free seminar, which will provide an insight to one of six Plenary Council (PC) thematic Discernment papers, this time discussing the question “How is God calling us to be a Christ-centred Church in Australia that is ‘Prayerful and Eucharistic’?”.

The upcoming commissioning of 12 Perth Plenary Council (PC) delegates this Sunday, 4 October, at St Mary’s Cathedral will be a great opportunity for Perth Catholics to embrace and give the delegates prayerful support and encouragement, as they receive their blessing and commit to their roles.

This is the third part of the seventh in the series of articles looking at the particular councils of the Catholic Church in Australia held between 1844 and 1937 by Peter J Wilkinson. It examines the background and factors leading to the Fourth Plenary Council of Australia & New Zealand held in Sydney from 4 to 12 September 1937, which brought all the particular churches of both nations for the second time.