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INFORMATION BULLETIN No 80 AUGUST 2006
Australian Bishops: Excerpts from Letter to Priests 2001 Clergy Conferences so far this year Clergy Associations, National Gatherings Ongoing Formation and Education
For many, the
idea of remaining youthful is attractive. According to one source, it’s a must
for clergy! Indeed, Pope John Paul II reminds us in Pastores dabo vobis that
“ongoing formation keeps up one’s ‘youthful-ness of spirit’.” He
continues, “Only those who keep ever alive their desire to learn and grow can
be said to enjoy this ‘youthfulness’ … Truly each priest has the duty
….” (no. 79) There is a great
deal of evidence of this ‘youthfulness’ in our deacons, priests, and bishops
across Australia. This is clear in large measure from our Diocesan
Directors’ annual reports of the Retreats, Clergy Conferences, Assemblies,
Synods and post-Synodal efforts--renewals of all kinds, attended annually by the
bulk of our Australian clergy. We should be so proud. Having attending
almost all the Clergy Conferences listed inside over the past six months, I join
with you in acknowledging the great wealth of talent we have – gifted speakers
and gifted listeners/contributors ‘doing together’ ongoing formation,
education, and renewal. In past
Information Bulletins, my predecessors gave a detailed account of the
“Executive Officer’s move-ments”. Let’s settle for the list of
Conferences inside! PS. With the
reorganisation of the Australian Bishops Conference we have a new name: The
Australian Catholic Council for Clergy Life and Ministry. With personal best wishes Frank
Devoy Director
AUSTRALIAN BISHOPS: EXCERPTS FROM Letter to Priests, 2001
“…
We write to you, our closest collaborators in ministry, to assure you of our
appreciation of your ministry and our admiration for you at a time when many
confusing issues seem to impact on priesthood.… We realise that there are real
pressures on you from many sources, e.g. when the Second Vatican Council called
for renewal and we enthusi-astically responded, we did not anticipate the
challenges this might have on aspects of our ministry. Despite that, we rejoice
in a Church which includes bishops, priests, deacons, laity and religious men
and women working collaboratively in its life and mission. “We
admire the tradition of close relationship between priests and people in
Australia. To be able to share privil-eged pastoral moments with them is a
singular joy. Some-times, however, you may be overwhelmed by their expectat-ions.
We are conscious, also, of increased responsibilities caused by fewer priests
and concerns about the shortage of priests, about the ageing of priests, and
about the lack of vocations. We are also aware of the busyness of large city
parishes and the isolation and physical demands of rural ones. These issues can
have a debilitating effect on our equilibrium and cause us to question our own
relevance or usefulness in the Church. We can experience a weariness of spirit
in the face of these issues. “Priestly
life and ministry needs to be constantly re-newed.
Spiritual, personal and professional develop-ment are
essential for our well-being and effectiveness.
We are encouraged to be men of deep prayer; to continue to develop liturgical
presence and practice; to maintain read-ing and study; and to look for
opportunities for further re-newal. We support you in this since we want
priesthood to be personally enriching and vital to the life of the Church. “We recognise your deep loyalty to the Church and your courageous efforts to engage in its life and mission. We proclaim a wonderful message – let us do so with boldness! We thank God for you and reassure you of our esteem, appreciation and prayers. As the bishops of Australia, we renew our commitment to be faithful leaders of service with you, and to all the people of God.”
CLERGY
CONFERENCES SO FAR THIS YEAR: DIOCESES, SPEAKERS, TOPICS Armidale. Fr John Usher,
Sydney: Cohesion and Adaptability of the Presbyterate of Armidale. Ballarat.
Sr Barbara Reid, CTU Chicago: The Resurrection Narratives. Bathurst.
Fr John Hill, Woy Woy: The Development of Priestly Identity in Church Teaching. Brisbane.
Fr Richard Lennan, Mission
of the Church: Focus on Ordained Ministry (Synod follow up); Bishop Geoffrey
Robinson, Reflections on the Priesthood. Broken
Bay. Bishop D. Walker: The
Presbyterate (Feb. meeting), Scriptural Basis for Change; Fr David Ranson, Theological
Reflection on Change; Dr Tony Robinson, Caring
for Self in Times of Change (June meeting). Canberra-Goulburn.
Dr Ray Canning, ACU Canberra: The Theological Foundations
for Parish-based Sacraments. Hobart.
Fr Orm Rush, Brisbane: Peaching Jesus Today. Melbourne.
Fr John Fuellenbach, Rome: Church: Commun-ity for the Kingdom. Parramatta.
Fr Bill Attard, Fr Terry Kean & Sister Clare Griffin. Melbourne: Companions
in Hope. Perth.
Fr Peter Bianchini, Perth: The Permanent Diaconate. Sale.
Fr Brendan Byrne SJ: Gospel of Luke; Fr Tim Costello SDB: Priesthood in the Early Church based on Scripture and Tradition; Fr
Paul Connell: Eschatology with particular
reference to von Balthasar. Sandhurst. Fr Frank Devoy, ACCLM Canberra: Communio: Calling for a Grace-filled Consensus & Collaboration.
Sydney. Fr Ulrich Hennes, Cologne: World Youth Day; Deacon Paul Simmons, Broken Bay: Permanent Diaconate.
Townsville. Members of the Townsville Presbyterate sharing their journey.
Wagga Wagga. Fr John Usher, Sydney: The Cohesion and Adaptability of the Presbyterate of Wagga Wagga.
Wollongong. Bishop Toohey, Wilcannia-Forbes: Climate Change and Greenhouse Implications.
CLERGY
ASSOCIATIONS, NATIONAL GATHERINGS National Gathering of Deacons, Adelaide Fr Clem Hill. The Deacon
as Communicator, The Deacon as Preacher, The Deacon as Proclaimer. (19-22
Jan. 2006). Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, Albury. Dr
Tracey Rowland. Benedict XVI & Vatican
II; on his Augustinian Dimensions; the Keys to his Theology; Fr John Walshe,
Melbourne: Benedict – Essentially an
Ecclesiologist?; Fr Anthony Robbie, Sydney: The Making of Benedict XVI; Fr Glen Tattersall FSSP, Melbourne: Benedict
XVI’s Theology of Worship. (10-14 July 2006). National Council of Priests Convention, Adelaide.
Fr David Ranson, Broken Bay, Sr Ruth Egar rsm, Adelaide, and Sue Holoubeck, Adelaide. Imagining New Pastoral Leadership. “These speakers will bring a fresh and positive outlook to priesthood. This will be an opportunity for inner renewal and renewed enthusiasm for your priesthood, something not to be missed.” (23-27 October 2006).
(For
full details see www.auspriest.org under
"Formation")
Aussie
Sabbatical 2007, Toowoomba Contact:
Fr Jeff Scully, PO Box 45, Quilpie. 4480 Douglas
Park, Sacred Heart Fathers www.users.bigpond.com/towersretreat Heart
of Life Spirituality Centre, Melbourne www.heartoflife.catholicau.com Campion
Centre, Kew Melbourne campion_retreat@iprimus.com.au Marymount
Mercy Centre St
Joseph's - Baulkham Hills patricia.stevenson@sosj.org.au Personal
Renewal for Ministry, Manly Q’land
OTHER PLACES TO CONSIDER
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND Australian
Catholic University
- Bris, Syd, ACT, Ballarat Broken
Bay Institute
- Broken Bay Catholic
Institute of Sydney
- Strathfield, Sydney Catholic
Theological College – East Melbourne John
Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family
- Victoria Notre
Dame University - Freemantle, Sydney, Broome United
Faculty of Theology
- Parkville, Victoria Yarra
Theological Union
- Box Hill,Victoria
BELGIUM American
College of Louvain, Leuven, Belgium UNITED
KINGDOM Hawkstone
Hall, Shrewsbury, England Heythrop
College, University of London, England St
Mary's Kinnoull, Perth, Scotland IRELAND ISRAEL Tantur
Ecumenical Institute, Jerusalem, Israel UNITED
STATES The
Institute for Spirituality & Worship, Berkley Institute
of Pastoral Studies, Chicago, Chicago Oblate
School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas La
Salle Sangre de Cristo Center, New Mexico
Jesuit
School of Theology, Berkeley, California School
of Applied Theology (SAT) Berkeley, California Congregation of the Mission
(Vincentians) Weston
Jesuit School of Theology, Cambridge, Mass. Vatican
II Institute, Menlo Park, California
PASTORES DABO VOBIS: POPE JOHN PAUL II
“In
a certain sense, it is the priest himself, the individual priest, who is the
person primarily responsible in the Church for ongoing formation. Truly each
priest has the duty, rooted in the sacrament of holy orders, to be faithful to
the gift God has given him and to respond to the call for daily conversion which
comes with the gift itself. “The
regulations and norms established by Church authority, as also the example given
by other priests, are not enough to make permanent formation attractive unless
the individual priest is personally convinced of its need and is determined to
make use of the opportunities, times and forms in which it comes. “Ongoing
formation keeps up one's ‘youthfulness of spirit’ which is something that
cannot be imposed from without. Each priest must continually find it within
himself. Only those who keep ever alive their desire to learn and grow can be
said to enjoy this ‘youthfulness’. “The
responsibility of the bishop and, with him, of the presbyterate, is fundamental.
The bishop's responsibility is based on the fact that priests receive their
priesthood from him and share his pastoral solicitude for the People of God. He
is responsible for ongoing formation, the purpose of which is to ensure that all
his priests are generously faithful to the gift and ministry received, that they
are priests such as the People of God wishes to have and has a ‘right’ to. “This
responsibility leads the bishop, in communion with the presbyterate, to outline
a project and establish a program which can ensure that ongoing formation is not
something haphazard but a systematic offering of subjects, which unfold by
stages and take on precise forms. The bishop will live up to his responsibility
not only by seeing to it that his presbyterate has places and times for its
ongoing formation, but also by being present in person and taking part in an
interested and friendly way …. “(no. 79) “I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you.” (2 Tim 1:6) |