By Amanda Murthy
Plenary Council President, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, said that in in response to the dramatic changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the bishops of Australia have made the “difficult, but necessary” decision to postpone the first assembly of the Plenary Council (PC).
The announcement came shortly after Archbishop Costelloe wrote to more than 250 other Catholics across the country, calling them as delegates for the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia.
“At a time in our Church’s history, we’ve not seen before, with the suspension of Masses across the country and around the world, the announcement of our Plenary Council delegates is a source of great joy for the People of God in Australia,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
“Bishops across the country worked locally with leaders in their diocese to design a process to consider names of people who were nominated or applied to be delegates for the Plenary Council assemblies.
“We were grateful for and impressed with the faith and the calibre of the people who were nominated. We could quite easily have filled several quotas with the names that were put forward,” the Archbishop added.
Among the list of lay delegates already selected, 64 per cent are women and the average age of those delegates is 48 – with the youngest just 19 years old.
The Perth lay delegates selected were Emily Hardbottle, Damian Walsh, Dr Angela McCarthy and Dr Marco Ceccarelli.
Access the full list of Plenary Council delegates at www.plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au/delegates
Emily Hardbottle
Youth Coordinator of St Benedict’s Church, Applecross Parish
“I think it’s so important that young people in the Church are represented on the Council, and I’m excited that I was chosen to do that. Young people are the future of the Church, and so it’s important they are in decision making roles as much as possible. We want to keep young people in the Church and engage them. I’m very excited that the PC delegate roles have been given to a wide range of people so that most groups within the Church are represented.
“The PC is important, as we are reaching a critical point within the Church. There are many negative things that the Church has experienced in the last 10 years, and engagement with the Church has fallen as a result. We need to learn from our mistakes and learn how to better engage people so that they feel welcome and part of the Body of Christ.”
Dr Marco Ceccarelli
Director of Centre for Faith Enrichment
“I have seen the fruits that have come from the first two Plenary Council phases (Listening and Dialogue and Listening and Discernment) when those who participated did so by including prayer in their session and took a “synodal” approach. What I mean by synodal is a Church that walks together, where the faithful listen to each other and all try to listen to the Holy Spirit speaking in the voices of the group. This demands a certain vulnerability on our part, which can be unsettling.
“I hope the Plenary Council will explore ways to initiate, support and strengthen the faith of the laity, including men and women, youth, families, the elderly, the disabled, and the poor and marginalised.”
Damian Walsh
Director of The Shopfront
“We are all challenged – especially in this time of collective anxiety of COVID-19. It is important to be sure that we are a strong community where the weak, not just the strong are listened to, heard as equal partners and then as a community listen to the Word of God and respond as He would want us to.
“At this point, I am unsure of what the logistics for the upcoming assembly are, nevertheless, I want to be a listener and a reflector of what the Holy Spirit is calling us as Church to be. This will call and challenge me to be discerning, prayerful and collegial player.”
Dr Angela McCarthy
UNDA Senior Lecturer, Theology
“Having been involved in PC preparations of various kinds for the past two years, I can say that we need to have confidence that the voice of the Church in Australia will be heard.
“I would encourage the community to be positive, to listen to the Holy Spirit, to pray, engage with each other and to have confidence that the voice of the Church will be heard.
“My hopes for the PC are formed from an experience of participatory difficulties in the Church, namely in the category of young people (my students) and women who I work with. I am hopeful that we will move towards a more participatory, inclusive and synodal Church, however, this will require a great deal of prayer, humility before God and a strong sense of justice in addressing the needs of others.
From pages 30 to 31 of Issue 24: Soul: ‘Nurturing the Spiritual Principle in Us’ of The Record Magazine