While
people were still sharing their stories of faith and of God with the Plenary
Council last night and the final numbers won’t be known for a couple of weeks,
the Council’s Listening and Dialogue stage is considered a “landmark moment”
for the Catholic Church in Australia.
Plenary
Council 2020 president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB expressed his gratitude
for the faith, energy and generosity of people everywhere who have shared so
honestly.
“The bishops
and the Plenary Council team are deeply grateful to all people who have
participated,” he said.
“It is
important to stop and acknowledge the significant moment that this is for the
entire Catholic community. I have been very moved by the stories of faith, hope
and resilience I have heard.”
The
first stage of preparation for the Plenary Council came to a close at midnight
last night.
Reflecting
on the almost 10 months since that Listening and Dialogue process opened at
Pentecost, Archbishop Costelloe said it had been impossible to predict how things
would unfold.
“With no
precedent for a national invitation to prayer, dialogue and sharing of stories,
there was a sense of stepping into the unknown and being unsure of what the
experience might become,” he explained.
“What we
found, though, was an Australian community that was enthusiastic to consider
the question: ‘What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this
time?’”
The last
official count of people who had participated in the opening Listening and
Dialogue stage was more than 68,700. That was at the end of January.
“We have
heard from our colleagues at the National Centre for Pastoral Research that
there was an influx of submissions during February and a deluge in the final
days leading up to Ash Wednesday,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
“This is
a landmark moment for the Church – not only in terms of the stories that have
been shared, but also in the new relationships that have formed after
encountering one another in dialogue. The change that this brings is already
evident among people from all parts of the Church.”
Plenary
Council facilitator Lana Turvey-Collins, who has travelled to every state and
territory – most on several occasions – said people have been very willing to
share their stories.
“One of
the common themes we have heard is people feel that the Listening and Dialogue encounter
was invaluable,” she explained.
“Many
people have mentioned that they haven’t really been asked to participate in
anything like this before and that experiencing it together has been empowering
because it has provided a platform for all voices to be heard.”
Ms
Turvey-Collins said most have understood the need for prayerful engagement in
considering what God might want.
“It’s a
challenging question to be asking ourselves. The Scripture shaping this Plenary
Council, ‘Listen to what the Spirit is saying’, is something that guides us
very practically. In every conversation, every decision, we ask ourselves, ‘how
is this helping all of us to listen to what God’s Spirit is saying?’” she said.
“The habit
of encountering one another through listening and dialogue has been critical in
the first stage of the process and will become more and more important over the
two-plus years we still have to go before the second Council session.
“I am
delighted that so many people from diverse parts of the Australian community
have been a part of this process. It is a great sign of God with us on this
journey.”
The
second stage of the preparation phase of Plenary Council, which begins on June
9, will be “Listening and Discernment”.
“Discernment
is a term that we hear quite often these days, and practising discernment in
our communities and in our preparation towards the Plenary Council will help to
ensure we are listening to God, listening to each other and considering our
path forward as the People of God in Australia,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
With the
Listening and Dialogue phase now complete, the National Centre for Pastoral
Research will continue the deep listening process, conducting a qualitative and
quantitative analysis of the submissions received and, using best-practice
research methods, will identify key themes that have emerged.
Then, in
May, the Bishops Commission for the Plenary Council, the Plenary Council
Executive Committee and the Facilitation Team will work together with the
National Centre for Pastoral Research to finalise the National Themes for
Discernment.
Those
themes will become the focus for the Listening and Discernment phase and will
be the foundations for the Plenary Council agenda.
The
final statistical data from the Listening and Dialogue phase will be released
later this month.
Visit the Plenary Council website for more
information at www.plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au