The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia have today published an
“important and substantial” document on the review of diocesan and parish governance and
management in Australia.

The review was recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual
Abuse.

The Church’s Implementation Advisory Group (IAG) oversaw the development of the report, The
Light from the Southern Cross: Promoting Co-responsible Governance in the Catholic Church in
Australia. The IAG engaged the Governance Review Project Team (GRPT) to research and study
Church governance and to prepare the 208-page report, which includes 86 recommendations.

“The Light from the Southern Cross makes an important and substantial contribution to the life and
mission of the Church in Australia, and the bishops and leaders of religious institutes thank those
responsible for its preparation and delivery,” Bishops Conference president Archbishop Mark
Coleridge said.

CRA president Br Peter Carroll FMS added: “As leaders in the Catholic Church responsible for
hundreds of Church entities, CRA and the Bishops Conference are working through numerous
governance reforms and practices as outlined by the recommendations of the Royal Commission.

“I am hopeful that The Light from the Southern Cross will illumine a future path of contemporary
good governance for the Church in Australia, and possibly beyond.”

An earlier version of the report was provided to the Bishops Conference and CRA in May. The
bishops noted at the time that a number of errors would need to be corrected and some
clarifications made before the report was released. The bishops took on the task of providing
feedback to inform those corrections and clarifications.

Before the feedback was provided or incorporated, the earlier version of the report – marked
confidential – was leaked to international Catholic media and published online. The work of finalising
the report has continued. The Light from the Southern Cross is released today in its final form.

Archbishop Coleridge said the bishops have previously asked that any feedback on the final version
of the report be sent to the local bishop in each place, who will bring it the Bishops Conference’s
discussions at November’s plenary meeting.

“The bishops will discuss the report and the broader issue of governance at our meeting later this
year, but many of the matters raised are ones that can be implemented at the local level, rather
than requiring national consensus,” he said.

“Equally, many of the issues will be best considered during the upcoming Plenary Council and what
will follow from the Council in each diocese.

“I encourage anyone who wishes to read The Light from the Southern Cross to start with the
accompanying reading guide, also published today, and read the whole report, rather than just the
recommendations.”

The publication of The Light from the Southern Cross brings to completion one of the IAG’s final
projects, prior to concluding its service at the end of 2020.

“The IAG has ably assisted the Church in Australia to respond in a credible way to recommendations of
the Royal Commission,” Br Peter said.

The Light from the Southern Cross and the associated reading guide can be found on the Bishops
Conference website.