Accountable, inclusive and transparent: A better church for Australia

John Warhurst, Chair of Concerned Catholics Canberra Goulburn, presented this speech at a forum at the Commercial Club, Wagga Wagga on October 24, 2019. It presents an overview of the possibilities for church renewal in Australia.

The Church must learn to discern charisms for service – uprooting clericalism

Robert Mickens, editor of La Croix International writes about how a new approach to what service looks like, might help in the reform of a clericalist church. Reprinted with permission from La Croix International (8 November, 2019).

Fourth Plenary Council of Australia & New Zealand, 4-12 September 1937

 

This is Part 1 of the seventh in the series of articles looking at the particular councils of the Catholic Church in Australia held between 1844 and 1937 by Peter J Wilkinson. It examines the background and factors leading to the Fourth Plenary Council of Australia & New Zealand held in Sydney in September 1937, which brought together all the particular churches of both nations for the second time.

Women still listening for leadership from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

Eleanor Flynn, Gail Grossman Freyne, Agnes Dodds, Claire Renkin and Suzanne Philips who are all members of Women’s Wisdom in the Church (WWITCH) and Marilyn Hatton who is a member of Catholics Speak Out (CSO) and a partner of WWITCH, speak out about the closure of the Office for the Participation of Women in the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) and the message that sends to women as we approach the Plenary Council.

Ecumenism the missing dimension in the Plenary Council

Bede Heather, retired bishop of Parramatta, writes about the state of ecumenism after the initial fervour in the post-Vatican II church and the importance of consultation with all Christians in the upcoming Plenary Council.