A TEAM of 10 men and women have been commissioned as members to represent the Brisbane Archdiocese at the historic Fifth Plenary Council of Australia to be held in October and with a second assembly in July next year.
The members commissioned during a Mass in St Stephen’s Cathedral on March 7, included four women; Sr Maeve Heaney, Liliana Ortiz, Toni Janke and Patricia Kennedy – and layman Tom Warren, an Albany Creek parish youth co-ordinator.
Five clergy complete Brisbane’s Plenary team; Archbishop Mark Coleridge, Auxiliary Bishop Ken Howell, Vicar General Monsignor Peter Meneely, Fr Adrian Farrelly, and Fr Dan Ryan.
“The Plenary Council… what is it?” Archbishop Coleridge challenged during his homily.
“It is a way to the future at a time of great uncertainty.
“There is more than just shadows, there is a kind of darkness upon us.
“What we search for is God’s way into the future – not some way we concoct for ourselves, which is a way to nowhere.
“But we are the whole Church, not just delegates or bishops but the whole church in this land, is in search of God’s way into the future.”
Speaking to the commissioned members, Archbishop Coleridge said: “May God grant you the grace to be open to the Spirit leading you through the days of prayer, listening, and discernment, during the journey of the Council.”
“May the Holy Spirit, empower these delegates with the grace to recognise the Word of God at work in the Church,” he said.
“May the Holy Spirit, fill these delegates with the courage to be open to the future while respecting the tradition of the Church.
“Through the power of the Holy Spirit I send you forth on behalf of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, a journey I will share with you.”
Due to ongoing uncertainty about COVID-19 travel restrictions the first assembly of the Plenary Council in October will go ahead with a combination of online and face-to-face meetings.
Commissioned members will gather in local groups – diocesan, inter-diocesan or provincial – and participate in some Plenary Council sessions within those groups.
Other sessions will take place with those groups engaging in conversation, prayer and discernment with other groups around Australia.
Plenary Council president, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe has said it is important to remember that the Plenary Council is a years-long journey and that there will be a second assembly in Sydney in July 2022.
“The first assembly will inevitably take on a somewhat different flavour because of the multi-modal format, but the key principles of prayer, of discernment and of renewal in Christ remain central,” he said.
