BishopAccountability.org

First Plenary Council meeting in 80 years to discuss sex abuse fallout

By Emily Ritchie
Australian
March 19, 2018

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/first-plenary-council-meeting-in-80-years-to-discuss-sex-abuse-fallout/news-story/1525fd133073cd5a3b36093846ebf525

Pope Francis addresses the crowd during a mass in San Giovanni Rotondo, southern Italy on Friday.

[See also a description of the council and the council's mandate.]

Dealing with the fallout from the royal commission into sex abuse is on the agenda at the first Catholic Church national plenary council to be held in more than 80 years.

The significant opportunity, which will be revealed today after Pope Francis gave it his blessing, will involve community consultations from this Easter before two meetings of more than 40 bishops in October 2020 and May 2021.

The event, not held in Australia since 1937, aims to engage the Catholic community in dialogue about the role of the church in the future and redefining Australia’s place in that future.

The process has the potential to initiate landmark changes to the Catholic Church’s code of canon law, with approval from Rome.

“The council will be an opportunity for people to come together and listen to God, and in particular by listening to one another as ­together we discern what God is asking of us at this time — a time when the church in Australia is facing significant challenges,” said Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge, chair of the Bishops Commission for the Plenary Council.

“We sincerely hope the preparation and celebration of the Plenary Council is a time when all parts of the church listen to and talk to one another as we explore together how we might answer the question: ‘What do you think God is asking of us in Australia?’”

A post on the plenary council website says: “There are many reasons for having a plenary council for the Catholic Church in Australia: Pope Francis has invited local church to dialogue; the contemporary society of Australia has changed significantly; and the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse has been a significant and influential event that requires deep consideration and response.”




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