Today was the official opening of the first Plenary Assembly. We began with Mass celebrated by Archbishop Tim Costello in Perth, live-streamed for the rest of the country. You can watch it here.

This was followed by a 90min orientation session on MS Teams to go through final technology instructions and planning, including the agenda for Monday’s plenary (whole group) session. For those who are interested, it includes:

  • Acknowledgement of Country
  • Welcome from the Chairperson – Ms Theresa Simon
  • Opening Prayer
  • Welcome and Opening of the Plenary Council from the President, Most Reverend Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB
  • Profession of Faith (all Members)
  • Presentation of the Statutes and Regulatory Norms (Article 21)
  • Recognition of the Membership (Article 18)
  • Recognition of the Officers (Article 19)
  • Message to the Plenary Council from the Holy Father
  • Message from the Plenary Council to the Holy Father
  • Presentation of the Agenda and Program (Article 20)
  • Plenary Discernment: Member Interventions and Reflection

I’m not expecting a lot of excitement tomorrow morning, though it will be very nice to hear from the Holy Father. This first part should all be live-streamed for your viewing pleasure here.

Hopefully after all the ‘business’, there will still be time for the last item: Plenary Discernment: Member Interventions and Reflection. An intervention is church-speak for a short presentation from a member (formerly called ‘delegates’). These are strictly managed by the executive committee and chair, with submissions being made the evening before in writing and less than 300 words.

Given the time constraints and the expected clumsiness of muting and unmuting microphones, it is unlikely that most of the submissions to make an intervention will not make it to the floor. However, all submissions will be published as part of the official record of the proceedings, irrespective of whether they are spoken or merely written.

To that end, I have made a submission for tomorrow’s plenary! I’ll find out in due course whether it has made it onto the morning’s agenda. Either way, I will share it with you tomorrow.