Approximately 500 participants from all over Australia will take part in the «Mission: one heart, many voices» conference scheduled in Sydney from May 13-15, 2019, in view of the extraordinary Missionary month of October 2019, and organized by «Catholic Mission» Australia, national direction of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the nation, in collaboration with «Catholic Religious Australia».
«They will be three exciting days full of joy and surprises,» said Peter Gates, deputy director of «Catholic Mission» in a note sent to Fides News Agency. «From reports to workshops, to masterclasses and conversations, the conference aims to challenge and inspire those present on the theme of the Church’s mission in the contemporary world. It will be a truly special experience for all.» The delegates will represent dioceses, organizations, institutes, companies, in all sectors of pastoral services such as education, health, assistance to the elderly, professional services, young people, consecrated persons.
«The program will give all those present the practical opportunity to experience the joy of the Gospel in their own context, even with some surprises», explains Gates, noting that the conference comes at a crucial moment for the whole Australian Catholic community: «As Christians, we must deepen how each of us is called to live our mission as a baptized person at work, in society and in personal life».
Speakers include: Sr. Carol Zinn ssj, Executive Director of the Conference on Leadership of Religious Women; Bishop Paul Tighe, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Ravina Waldren, indigenous Catholic leader of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, and Robert Fitzgerald, member of the Productivity Committee of the Australian Government.
The conference will also be an opportunity for listening and discernment, in preparation for the Plenary Council of 2020, the highest form of meeting of Australian local Churches since 1937, and intends to be a moment of reflection on the future of the Catholic Church in Australia.
