Theological reflections on the First Assembly of the Plenary Council

The Plenary Council's discernment must attune itself to the circumstances of its time and place, but it must also do justice to the fact that Australian Catholics are part of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church that transcends the limits of every epoch and culture. The council can learn from the wider Christian experience without the latter being in competition with the faith, hope, and love of contemporary Australian Catholics. For this reason, pursuing justice for Indigenous peoples, lamenting and addressing the damage that clerical sexual abuse has inflicted on survivors, and seeking creative and constructive responses to the pain of women in the Catholic Church, the church's LGBTQI+ members, and those longing for expanded access to the church's sacramental life have all come within the purview of the council. Underpinning this discernment is the conviction that the mystery of God 'does not violate our deepest needs but fulfills slowly in our life situation our most profound desires for reassurance, unconditional love, tenderness, and special regard'.7 As the Plenary Council addresses contemporary questions, as it seeks to do so in ways that cooperate with rather than resist the movement of the Spirit, and as it looks to promote creative expressions of discipleship, it can draw from the church's graced tradition, which is also a key tool for the craft of theology.