“I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security. I do not want a Church concerned with being at the centre and which then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures.”
— Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, paragraph 49.
Plenary Council 2021: Promoting parish conversations about change
A group of parishes from Melbourne and beyond are sponsoring this website to:
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facilitate discussions between parishes in Australia on the key issues facing the Church, and
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articulate and promote via a consultative process a shared view across parishes, to the extent to which such a shared view exists.
We invite all involved in their parish to join in a conversation to contribute to change in the Church.
By August 2020 the Plenary Council process has reached a critical phase – the preparation of final documents for the Council. These are the working document (Instrumentum Laboris), the agenda and other related materials. These documents will have a major influence on what is discussed, and how it is discussed, at the Council.
It is vital that the evolving views of the faithful in the parishes, arising from their ongoing discernment, be fed into this process. Expression of these views is actively welcomed by the Plenary Council Secretariat; they will be passed on to the team preparing the working document.
The foundation of the working document is the diverse material already submitted by the faithful, as interpreted by the six Writing Group reports. These reports are available here. Some initial comments on these reports are provided in Responses to the six Writing Group reports.
In addition to ongoing contributions on urgent issues, we now seek comments on or responses to any of the six Writing Groups reports, as well as contributions about the reports as a whole or any issue related to the final documents.
For information about the submission process and other guidelines see How to contribute. We seek contributions from all points of view. For any issues arising, please contact us, or email us on this address
Topics featuring recently updated material are contained within the orange tabs.
