CURRENT FOCUS

The focus for the Council is the spirituality and mission of clergy. We see all clergy as disciples of Jesus who is the model of ministry. It is in this light that the Council wishes to exercise leadership with compassion, to address the issues of ambiguity and change.

1.         In order to do this we want to be particularly attentive to the following areas:

         ¨      Ministering to others

¨      “Abuse issues”

¨      Mutuality and inclusivity

¨      The signs of the times

¨      The need to listen to prophetic voices

¨      The need to adopt an attitude of “co-responsibility” (ie to use language like ‘our parish/our diocese’)

2.         Some strategies we hope to employ to assist this to happen are:

         ¨      To continue to support the local Diocesan Director and the Council's Director

¨      To promote forums on ordained ministry

¨      To encourage prayer and fraternity support groups

¨      To promote ‘home grown’ in-services in dioceses

¨      To promote ongoing formation and supervision for clergy

¨      To develop lists of people for retreats and inservice programs

¨      To support the ongoing development of the permanent diaconate in Australia

¨      To support priests from overseas in their pastoral ministry by promoting programs of inculturation, and ongoing mentoring of their ministry, within the Australian presbyterate.

3.         We would hope that some outcomes of all this would include:

            ¨   Recognizing the grace-filled nature of  ministry and life of bishops, priests and deacons

            ¨  Celebrating Christian hope in the face of unpredictable difficulties

            ¨  Imagining a new and creative Church, giving rise to an energetic priesthood and diaconate

            ¨  Achieving a better morale amongst clergy

   ¨  Challenging an unhealthy "clerical" and "triumphal" culture among clergy

   ¨   Ensuring greater transparency and accountability

July 2003