When the time comes to call forth a parish pastoral council……
18 February, 2025
When the time comes to call forth a parish pastoral council……
…….Be guided by the principles of synodality
This is the second part of a three part article by Fr Don White. The final part will appear in the next edition of this newsletter. A link to the full article will be found at the end of this part.
Recent key documents
Encouragement for, and the importance of parish pastoral councils has been the focus of some recent key documents, including from our bishop. Bishop Michael updated the diocesan guidelines for the parish pastoral councils in June 2022 and at that time, he asked our parishes to make the formation or the renewal of pastoral councils a priority in our communities of faith (1) . As he had travelled to parishes, Bishop Michael has made meeting with pastoral councils a key focus of his visits (2). On the weekend 26-27th May 2023, Bishop Michael McCarthy launched the Diocesan Pastoral Plan which outlines the importance of the formation of pastoral councils at parish level under the heading of co-responsibility and mission (3).
At a national level, two recent documents are essential reading for us. Firstly, the report called “The Light from the Southern Cross: Promoting Co-responsible Governance in the Catholic Church in Australia,” (4)which was compiled as part of the bishops’ response to the findings of the Royal Commission, made many recommendations about governance in the Church. Some recommendations were about the role of parish pastoral councils (5). To assist with the implementation of those recommendations about pastoral councils, the bishops asked for another report, this time from the National Centre for Pastoral Resources to research the life of pastoral councils across Australia (6). This document called Parish Pastoral Councils: A Research Review is an excellent resource giving some context to the role and activity of pastoral councils around Australia, outlining how they operate in particular places, the kinds of issues they give their attention to, how they interact with parishioners, and also importantly how they are called and formed for mission in the church. It is an ideal document for our own local pastoral councils to review and to see where the fit in the larger landscape of parish life across Australia.
The process of renewal
Sometimes, pastoral councils find they are searching for new members. Some parishes struggle to do this, while others may find they have many nominations. So, what process can be used to call forth new members of pastoral council, keeping in mind the gifts and skills needed to be a member can be varied. Cecilia Anning in her Handbook has a chapter devoted to the establishment and changeover of the membership of pastoral councils, which is a prayerful selection model in which nominees share about their gifts, and then with a step-by-step ballot, a new pastoral council or changeover emerges (7).
There is another way that calls forth members of pastoral councils that is highlighted the report, Parish Pastoral Councils: A Research Review that does not involve a step-by-step ballot but rather a discernment process that is based on a gifts or skills matrix that a pastoral council needs in its members to fulfill its purpose in parish life. This skills matrix approach borrows some ideas from the corporate world, and with some adjustments can prove to be successful in the renewal of a pastoral council. It involves four steps of nomination and discernment to arrive at a council whose profile not only reflects the parish it serves but also has a wide range of gifts to call upon in that service.
Fr Don White PP
(1) Bishop Michael McCarthy, letter, 20/06/2022.
(2) ibid.
(3) Diocese of Rockhampton, Diocesan Pastoral Plan 2023-2028 accessed online at https://rok.catholic.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/CDR_Diocesan_Pastoral_Plan_WEB.pdf
(4) Governance Review Project Team, Australian Catholic Bishops and Catholic Religious Australia, Final Report, The Light from the Southern Cross: Promoting Co-responsible Governance in the Catholic Church in Australia, accessed online at https://www.catholicreligious.org.au/light-from-the-southern-cross
(5) Ibid, 181-184.
(6) See https://ncpr.catholic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Parish-Pastoral-Councils-Report-Final.pdf
(7) Cecilia Anning, Ibid, p26-28.
