KCP - Catholic Diocese of Broome

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) was held in Sydney recently. This was the first of two such conferences for 2006 and I thought this may be a good time to share with you a few items covered at the Bishops' gathering.

The ACBC has undergone a major structural reorganization that culminated with a busy voting procedure at the meeting. The Conference has abandoned its system of nineteen Committees and now conducts its business through twelve Commissions that in turn oversee a variety of councils and agencies that carry out important specialized work for the Church in Australia. For instance, the Commission for Justice and Service is composed of six Bishops and under this Commission operates a number of agencies - Catholic Earthcare Australia, Catholic Social Services, Catholic Health and the Australian Social Justice Council. Some Commissions deal with one particular work of the Church only such as Education. Other single issue Commissions are Caritas and The Bishops Commission for Relations with Aboriginal and T.S. Islander Peoples.

The purpose of the streamlining is to enable the Bishops in conference to spend less time dealing with numerous advisory groups and Committees and more time in discussing pressing pastoral issues facing the Church in Australia today. It is a useful reorganization and has the potential to serve the Church in Australia for some years to come. Archbishop Francis Carroll of Canberra has finished his term as President of the Conference and is patiently awaiting retirement having handed in his resignation to the Holy Father when he turned seventy-five. Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide was elected the new President of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference while Archbishop Barry Hickey of Perth is the deputy.

WYD 2008 was the subject of a major presentation to the Bishops gathered in North Sydney near the Shrine of Blessed Mary McKillop. Bishop Anthony Fisher from Sydney outlined the progress so far as Sydney prepares to host the largest gathering of youth ever held in Australia. WYD 2008 promises to be even bigger for Sydney than the 2000 Olympics and with the cooperation of State and Federal governments it has all the hallmarks of a superb operation. We were encouraged to earnestly prepare for the festivity now - organizationally and spiritually. The plans for the Holy Father to attend the celebrations have added to the growing excitement and by all accounts this will be one moment in the life of young Australians that is not to be missed. Estimations of costs for Kimberley people are about $2000 per head including travel. I suggest that this is a good time to begin drumming up some
enthusiasm in the parishes, selecting interested pilgrims and doing fundraising.

The speech of Pope John Paul II to Aboriginal people in 1986 will be celebrated by a twentieth anniversary Conference to be held in Alice Springs later this year (2-7 Oct.). Preparations by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) are well underway. It is estimated that in excess of 500 people will be attending to honour the historic address and to remember the call for Aboriginal people to take their rightful place in the Church in Australia so that it can be truly Church. Kimberley people were well represented at Alice Springs in 1986 and it is hoped that there will be representatives from each parish there this year.