Scoring the performance of the Australian church is a complex task at any time. Dioceses and congregations vary enormously. The mission of church agencies continues unabated in education, health, social services and aged care. But by any measure 2018 has been a big year.
The bishops have responded to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and released the report of their own Truth Justice and Healing Council. The Archbishop of Adelaide has stood down The historic first year of the listening process for the Plenary Council 2020/2021 has been underway across the country.
The bishops have participated actively in the lingering public debate about freedom of religion following the introduction of same sex marriage late last year. Education authorities and bishops have plunged into political action over Commonwealth education funding and emerged successful.
The official church is a wounded bull still with some energy and clout to influence the public square. That is despite damaging revelations from the royal commission continuing to become public. Catholic communities continue to be hurt and torn apart by such past actions in church settings.
The efforts to enforce new child safety protocols in individual dioceses and national responses like the National Day of Sorrow and Promise called by Catholic Religious Australia are promising steps forward, but, as the anger and demands of survivors at the national parliamentary apology showed, reconciliation will take decades if not the lifetimes of all survivors.
The official church response to the royal commission was derailed by both the media and church leaders concentrating on the issues of confession and celibacy. The church governance reforms recommended by the royal commission are proceeding at a snail's pace if at all.
Lack of transparency remains a big problem at the highest levels in the church. Just as the government leader in the House of Representatives, Christopher Pyne, can confidently proclaim, after announcing serious restrictions on parliamentary sittings from now until the May federal election, that few Australians are interested in what goes on in 'the Canberra bubble', it doesn't cross the minds of many church leaders that knowing about and demanding change in church governance is any business of lay Catholics.
"Reformers want lay participation in governance recognised as a matter of principle, not just to keep the ship afloat."
The disconnect is clear. The task of running the church is increasingly borne by the laity. At the local level this was starkly recognised by Fr Tony Percy, Canberra Goulburn Vicar-General, even while he was hosing down any concerns about church governance and inclusion.
He painted a picture which would be true of other dioceses: women head diocesan Financial Administration, Communications, Marriage, Family and Relationships, the Catholic Development Fund, Parish Pastoral Support, Fundraising, the Tribunal, two of the three service agencies, 61 per cent of Catholic schools and so on.
At the same time the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC), after a consultant's report by a former federal departmental head, restructured the administration of national church commissions and councils to allow for lay heads instead of bishops. This was given little publicity because it was undertaken to free up bishops to concentrate on their pastoral activities rather than in recognition of equal participation by the laity in church governance. Reformers want lay participation in governance recognised as a matter of principle, not just to keep the ship afloat.
For leaders and church reformers the public face of a synodal, listening church lies in the Plenary Council process. Few could doubt the sterling efforts of the facilitation team, led by Lana Turvey-Collins and Fr Noel Connolly. They report on the thousands who have made submissions or participated in listening sessions. They also talk in encouraging tones of the opportunities available to lay Catholics to make a difference. But scepticism about the intentions of church leaders remains justified.
Many reformers are hanging in there and giving consultation their best shot at local and national level. Concerned Catholics Canberra Goulburn has just held its own successful session, based on a necessary balance between the provision of meaningful context and perceptive discernment. The context included papers on the demography of the Australian Catholic community, Canon Law, Vatican 2, the recommendations of the royal commission, the vision of Pope Francis, and women, leadership and the church.
The Australian Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (ACCCR) has been labouring hard to have the concerns of the reform community heard by the ACBC. Our concerns mirror the weaknesses of the Plenary Council. Getting a good hearing from the ACBC President may not mean that the leadership is really listening.
The voice of reformers through ACCCR remains unheard. Issues like inadequate lay representation at the Plenary Council, a woman as co-chair, lay involvement in the meetings of ACBC, a commitment to governance reform and women's participation in decision-making still lie on the table without any action.
John Warhurst is an Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University.