St Clement of Rome Parish
PLENARY 2020
A Plenary Council is the highest formal gathering of all local churches in a country. Our Plenary Council 2020 is being held so that we can dialogue about the future of the Catholic Church in Australia.
The first Assembly of the Plenary Council will take place in Adelaide from October 3 to 10, 2021. The Second Assembly will take place in Sydney, from July 4 to 9, 2022.The first Assembly of the Plenary Council 2020 was originally slated to take place in Adelaide, October 2020. This would have been followed by Assembly 2 in Sydney, July 2021.
As of June 2020, Assembly 1 will be held in Adelaide on October 2-10, 2021 and Assembly 2 will be held in Sydney on July 4-9, 2022. The first Assembly of the Plenary Council 2020 was originally slated to take place in Adelaide, October 2020. This would have been followed by Assembly 2 in Sydney, July 2021. It was decided that the assemblies would be postponed due to social distancing measures preventing the ability to facilitate delegate formation and making logistical preparation difficult.
While the dates have been postponed, the venues for the two assemblies have remained the same. As of June 2020, Assembly 1 will be held in Adelaide on October 2-10, 2021 and Assembly 2 will be held in Sydney on July 4-9, 2022.
The Plenary Council First Assembly has concluded
During October 3-10, 2021 the Catholic Church in Australia gathered for the first of two Assemblies of the Plenary Council. Due to COVID and the varying lockdown restrictions across Australia, the first Assembly was conducted online. Over 300 participants gathered from around the country, with 17 from Melbourne.
The agenda for the Plenary Council had emerged from three years and several layers of prayer, listening, dialogue and discernment. The areas of focus and 16 questions, all aim to address the question of how we are being called to create a more missionary, Christ-centred Church in Australia at this time.