YOUNG Brisbane Catholic Thomas Warren is optimistic for the future of the Church in Australia as he read over the Plenary Council agenda released last month.
He said he had heard from people who were concerned that the Plenary Council might change too many things, but he hoped people could also see the “dangers of doing too little”.
The agenda consists of 16 questions under six categories – conversion, prayer, formation, structures, governance and institutions.
Plenary Council facilitator Lana Turvey-Collins said the agenda questions were developed for prayer, conversations, discernment and decision-making at the council.
Mr Warren, who works in youth ministry at All Saints’ Parish, Albany Creek, and is a member on the Brisbane Plenary Council delegation, said his eye had tended towards the formation questions.
He said he was “a bit disappointed” only one of the three formation questions, which was a general formation question, had relevance to lay people.
Two of the three formation questions focused on ordained ministry.
He said while he sees a lot of concern about the future of ordained ministry, he had hoped to see representation for young lay people in the formation questions.
“The youth are the leaders of tomorrow and it doesn’t seem to me to be too much focus on that,” he said.
“But at the same time, I think a lot of that will come through the questions if we dig deep enough, we will have a youth focus at the end.
“It will be up to the young people within the Plenary Council to bring that perspective to those questions.”
At the same time he said he appreciated, in the interest of fitting everything in, how simple the agenda was – no “awfully long lists”.
“I’m very optimistic and very excited to see where the council goes,” he said.
“To see the groups of people they’ve integrated and to see the variety of people they’ve brought in.”
Holy Spirit Seminary formator and Brisbane Plenary Council member Sr Maeve Heaney said the agenda named most of the core issues she saw raised in the earlier stages.
“The first item is ‘conversion’ which, from a theological point of view, is foundational,” she said.
“Every other point of growth and conversation depends on the personal and ecclesial conversion we are open to.”
She said the phrasing of the questions was “quite beautiful”.
The openness of the questions, which allowed the Church to breathe, reflects the journey the Church had embarked on, she said.
The Plenary Council will have its first session on October 3.
