PC vice president Bishop Shane Mackinlay says he believes "in time we will look back on this as an extremely significant event in the life of the Church in Australia".

The initial failure of the motions about women deacons and opportunities for women was a "terrible look" for the Church, he says. "It was perceived as a rejection of the legitimate concerns women and men in the Church have had for so long."

John Warhurst, a church reform advocate calls it "an encouraging step forward from a group of men who wield ultimate power in the church and have resisted any effective recognition of ministries for women in the past".

"Now we have some hope that the Australian Church can move towards meeting the ideal of gender equality accepted in other parts of society."

While Catholic feminist Marilyn Hatton says she's delighted the Church sees it must improve gender equality, she's disappointed the motion on female deacons has been "watered down". "It would be much better if our bishops were on the front foot on this issue", she says.

Conversely, Maeve Louise Heaney from the Australian Catholic University says the revised motions are superior to the originals.

After two motions were redrafted, 18 of the 19 PC motions were passed.

How they voted

Women deacons

New opportunities for women

The equal dignity of women and men ... including "enhancing the role of women in the Church" and "overcoming assumptions, culture, practices and language that lead to inequality"

Hearing women's perspectives: Ensuring "the experiences and perspectives of women, including women who exercise ministry, are heard, considered and valued at local, diocesan and national levels"

Implementing documents: Previous Australian bishops' documents will be implemented "more fully"

New English Mass translation

Lectors, acolytes and catechists: Formation ministries to be promoted

Reviewing guidelines on preaching: "For lay people to participate in a formal ministry of Preaching in the Latin Church, as provided for in canon 766 of the Code of Canon Law."

Lay homilies: The assembly rejected a motion seeking "an amendment to canon 767 to permit ... those entrusted ... to in the Eucharistic assembly ..."

Catechesis on confession

General absolution

Youth ministry: "Ongoing support and strategies for those who minister to young people", the promotion of "the rich variety of spiritual and devotional traditions of the Church" and "synodal practices such as encounter, accompaniment, listening, dialogue, discernment and collaboration"

Strategic policies: to "Identify and support ministry and leadership formation"

Cooperation: to "Help develop formation programmes"

Working group on formation

Working group on Catholic social teaching

Five-year review: plus interim reports in 2023 and 2025 with final in 2027

Review of previous decrees: "To determine those whose validity may endure" following Vatican II and changes to Church law

Closing the council

Source

• Pillar
• Sydney Morning Herald

He made the call in a commentary on a plenary council preparatory document.

Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart (pictured) said Catholicism in Australia faces crises such as a loss of faith and declining religious practice. The plenary council working document shows "serious failures" that suggest a lack of confidence and "evangelical vigour".

Porteous commented, "I sense a church that has lost confidence in itself; a church that has lost confidence in its identity and mission."

The document's doctrinal contradictions and general tone, he said, can encourage Catholics to shrink from their "prophetic task" and become caught in a "spiritual paralysis".

"This is the time for the Church to rise up with new evangelical vigour. This is the time to turn all our attention to announcing a word of life and hope," Archbishop Porteous said.

"The sharp edge of the call to conversion and faith is lacking in the document. In the face of the rise of those who declare that they have no faith, it is necessary more than ever to issue the call to faith," said Porteous.

"The Church in Australia is in the midst of an existential crisis as it witnesses thousands abandoning participation in the sacramental life of the Church each year," he added.

"The Church is in serious decline, yet no real recognition of this reality is given in the document. Because the crisis of faith is not acknowledged, the document makes no effort to propose a way forward for the Church," he said.

Porteous wrote his comments in response to the working document "Towards the Second Assembly," produced as the Catholic Church in Australia is amid its Fifth Plenary Council.

For Porteous, Catholics need to take the path of "entering more deeply into the mystery of the Church to unleash the power of the life of grace".

He called for the Catholic Church to be prepared "to be a prophetic voice speaking truth with love within the culture, to challenge the prevailing ethos."

"Have we become afraid to speak out about what we believe?" he asked. "If we shrink from our prophetic task, we will become caught in a spiritual paralysis."

Sources

Catholic News Agency

The Catholic Weekly

Life Site News