Update on Plenary Council 2020

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It covered almost 10 months and culminated in a flurry of late submissions, but the Listening and Dialogue phase of the Plenary Council has yielded a remarkable foundation from which the people of God can move forward.

Late last week, the National Centre for Pastoral Research (NCPR) completed the statistical analysis and reported that more than 17,500 submissions had been lodged -- thousands of which represented groups. In all, more than 222,000 people either made an individual submission or participated in a group discussion that culminated in a submission. Read more below or head straight to the story here.

The NCPR will continue its quantitative and qualitative analysis of the stories that people have shared over the coming weeks. From that analysis, which will include prayer and discernment, national themes for discernment will emerge and be announced in June. Reports will be published on each of the themes and allow ongoing involvement for the large numbers of people who participated during the Listening and Dialogue phase.

More information on the upcoming aspects of the Plenary Council is outlined below and will be included in future editions of Plenary Post.

Paul Bowell and Trudy Dantis from the National Centre for Pastoral Research discuss how the NCPR is helping coordinate the review and analysis of the more than 17,500 submissions received during the Listening and Dialogue phase.Click here for video

Plenary Council is listening to 222,000 voices Plenary Council 2020 president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB says he and his fellow bishops have been “amazed” by the engagement of people across Australia in the Council’s opening stage. The Plenary Council’s Listening and Dialogue phase ended last month, concluding a period of almost 10 months for people to share their stories and consider the question “What do you think God is asking of us in Australia at this time?” The National Centre for Pastoral Research has compiled statistical data and reported that more than 222,000 people participated in the Listening and Dialogue phase and made either individual submissions or had their voices captured through a group response. “The bishops knew the time was ripe for a defining moment in the life of the Church like a Plenary Council. What we didn’t know is how the people of Australia would embrace a process that hasn’t taken place for more than 80 years,” Archbishop Costelloe. Click here to read the full story.

Catholic world is watching Plenary Council process British journalist and papal biographer Austen Ivereigh has told a Catholic gathering in western Sydney that the Plenary Council 2020 process is being watched by people around the world as it gathers momentum. Dr Ivereigh participated in a conversation with Parramatta Bishop Vincent Long van Nguyen OFM Conv last month on the pontificate of Pope Francis. During their chat, talk shifted to the Plenary Council. According to a report in Catholic Outlook, Dr Ivereigh expressed his enthusiasm for the Council, saying it's an opportunity to engage in true discernment -- an essential "mechanism towards renewal". He acknowledged that there would be cynicism and scepticism about the process, but he encouraged people to keep their expectations modest and to remember that the Spirit is working throughout the life of the Council. Click here to read more from Catholic Outlook.

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