Archbishop Shane Mackinlay has this week unveiled his vision for a collaborative leadership model to guide the future of Brisbane Archdiocese. Source: The Catholic Leader.
Archbishop Mackinlay said the new structure would bring more lay leaders into oversight and help build a “collaborative, co-ordinated and synodal” local Church.
He said there was “so much goodwill, engagement and commitment” in the archdiocese, which he hoped to build upon with this leadership renewal.
The new model will also make a major contribution to ensuring the goals set by the 2024 Archdiocesan Synod are realised.
Archbishop Mackinlay had three main objectives for the new structure:
- Encouraging a broader involvement in guiding the mission of the archdiocese;
- Fostering collaboration between archdiocesan parishes, agencies and other Catholic bodies in the archdiocese; and
- Creating a group to guide and monitor the implementing of the Synod24 decisions.
The headline change is the creation of a Council of Vicars, which will include the vicar general and seven new vicars who will each focus on a particular area of mission – health, social services, education, pastoral mission, clergy, religious and administration.
While the vicar general and vicar for clergy would continue to be priests and the vicar for religious a member of a religious institute, other portfolios would be open to laypeople.
A chief of staff role has also been created to co-ordinate the archbishop’s office and the work of these seven key roles.
Once the Council of Vicars is established, it will assist the archbishop to establish an ongoing Archdiocesan Pastoral Mission Council.
The inclusion of lay people into these key roles meant Archbishop Mackinlay could draw more widely from the gifts and expertise of the faithful in Brisbane Archdiocese.
He said the renewal would ultimately make the archdiocese “both more effective” and “more co-operative”.
The governance model reflects the global Synod for a Synodal Church called by Pope Francis, which focused on participation, communion and mission.
It also mirrors recent Vatican reforms where laypeople now lead several dicasteries in the Holy See.
Archbishop Mackinlay said all administrative structures in the Church must remain grounded in the Gospel and focused on pursuing mission.
“This is exactly what the Synod for a Synodal Church is calling us to do,” Archbishop Mackinlay said.
“This is a way of having a structure that gives a clear way for participation in mission by people from across the archdiocese – for all of the baptised, for the whole Church.”
FULL STORY
Archbishop Mackinlay lays out his synodal vision for Brisbane Archdiocese (By Joe Higgins, The Catholic Leader)
