OCEANIA/AUSTRALIA - The Church towards the Plenary Council of 2020: the challenges of evangelization are at the center

Thursday, 21 March 2019 evangelization   extraordinary missionary month   pontifical mission societies   mission   missionary animation  

Sydney (Agenzia Fides) - The conference "Mission: one heart, many voices" scheduled for May 13-15 in Sydney will offer participants "an opportunity for listening and discernment, in preparation for the Plenary Council of 2020, which will be the highlight of the meeting of Australian local Churches since 1937 and intends to be a moment of dialogue and reflection on the future of the Catholic Church in Australia". This is what is declared, in a note sent to Agenzia Fides, by Lana Turvey-Collins, a lay Catholic, among the organizers of the Plenary Council of 2020 and the event in May, focused on the theme of the challenges of evangelization for the Catholic Church in New continent, and organized in collaboration with "Catholic Mission", National Direction of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Australia. The reflection will also be useful in view of the celebration of the Extraordinary Missionary Month, announced by the Pope for October 2019.
During the upcoming missionary conference, Turvey-Collins will conduct a masterclass together with the president of the Plenary Council, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB, with the aim of stimulating reflections on the vision of Catholics in Australian society, in preparation for the 2020 appointment: "The Plenary Council is trying to build a shared vision of what the mission of Christ in Australia is today. During the 'Mission: one heart, many voices' conference, people from different communities will come together to focus on this reflection".
As explained to Fides by Turvey-Collins, the preparatory phase of the Council, which began in May 2018 and was based on dialogue and listening meetings, held throughout the Australian territory, involved more than 68,000 people: "We are deeply grateful to all those who contributed by sharing their story and experience of faith. The open meetings of listening and dialogue were a rich and fruitful experience for all of us", he says.
The Plenary Council will be held in two sessions: the first is scheduled for October 2020, while the second will be held in May 2021. The choice to divide the appointment into two moments is due to the desire to allow a deeper discernment on the issues addressed in the first phase. (LF) (Agenzia Fides, 21/3/2019)


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