The fifth Plenary Council concluded last Saturday at the end of a week of deliberation and voting by delegates on a wide range of motions.  Catholic School Authorities may wish to note Motion 3.3 which was passed with a qualified majority on both the consultative and deliberative votes. The motion endorses the establishment of a national forum on Catholic education.

Motion 3.3

That those responsible for Catholic schooling and early childhood education, in consultation with representatives of Catholic parents’ groups and parish-based organisations, led by the National Catholic Education Commission and drawing upon the document A Framework for Formation for Mission in Catholic Education (2017), establish a national forum, which will seek to:

1. identify and respond to the needs of the diverse and distinct circumstances of Catholic schools in Australia;
2. build partnerships which enhance the vision of Catholic education as an instrument of evangelisation and an essential dimension of the contemporary mission of the Church;
3. offer a process for critical reflection and discernment of the vocation of Catholic education today;
4. support formation opportunities for catechesis, faith formation, leadership development and religious education pedagogy; and
5. to assist parish engagement with schools and young people.

Full details of the Plenary Council motions and voting outcomes are available here.