The Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst held its Diocesan Assembly at the Museum of Vehicle Evolution on Wednesday, February 15.
Bishop Shane Mackinlay was present and spoke at the event.
He said it was an exciting day and one that had involved a lot of preparation.
“(I’m) really excited, there’s a wonderful sense of energy here as people are gathering,” he said.
After 12 months of preparation and over 900 people participating in several consultations, every priest and principal in the diocese, and 300 members of the laity, gathered in Kialla for the assembly.
“We had meetings in all of our parishes and secondary schools in preparing for this and preparing the agenda for today,” Bishop Mackinlay said.
Bishop Mackinlay said the morning’s programme included reflecting on “synodality”, which is “the journey of participation and building up communion as missionary disciples that Pope Francis has called the church to work on”.
This was followed by setting priorities for work that the new Mission and Pastoral Council would take up, drawing on those consultation meetings from the previous year.
The council will comprise the bishop, four clergy and 11 laypeople.
“It will be the peak structure in the diocese in decision making and direction setting,” Bishop Mackinlay said.
He added that this new initiative was something the clergy and the laity had been asking for.
Australia’s Plenary Council concluded last year. Its decrees and the consultations that have happened in the diocese in preparing for the synod that will be held in Rome this October were also discussed.
The afternoon began with parishes, educational staff and chancellery staff setting priorities and actions they could implement in their local settings.
The assembly concluded about 4pm.
Given the discussion of the day regarding the increase in the laity’s responsibility, which includes both men and women, Bishop Mackinlay said he believed the ordination of women as deacons was something he could see in his lifetime.
“Pope Francis started a commission that he established to look at the possibility of ordaining women as deacons,” he said.
“We certainly discussed it at the Australian Plenary Council, and the decision there was to strongly encourage and be very clear that we would welcome that possibility and act on it as soon as it is available.
“(The ordination of women as deacons) is something that I would be delighted to see and enact as soon as possible.”
Bishop Mackinlay is optimistic about the future of the Catholic Church in Australia.
“You look at a day like today, and it gives you great encouragement that people care enormously about being part of the church,” he said.
He said that one of the things that came up very strongly in the consultations was the great desire that people had to ensure the church was open and that faith was passed on to new generations.
An issue that came up among young people was that “there were undoubtedly frustrations with some aspects of how the church operates and a desire for some things to work differently, including our liturgies and some of our structures”, Bishop Mackinlay said.
However, while there were frustrations, young people also have a great interest and desire to be part of the church and its decision making.
“So, you’ll see that there are young people who are here and who are keen to have their role in shaping the direction that we take from here,” Bishop Mackinlay said.