Australian Catholic University (ACU) has launched a research project focused on exploring lay governance models within the Catholic Church, particularly in the context of a synodal Church.
The initiative, led by ACU theologians and a prominent governance expert, aims to examine the evolving role of lay leadership in Church governance.
The research will focus on how lay leadership can be nurtured and effectively integrated within the Church’s governance structures.
Spearheading the project are Associate Professor Maeve Louise Heaney VDMF and Associate Professor Jamie Calder SJ from ACU’s School of Theology. Commissioner Adjunct Professor Susan Pascoe, an award-winning governance expert, a team from Durham University and ACU PhD candidate Lawrence Hallinan join them.
Ministerial PJPs (Public Juridic Persons), a widely adopted governance model in Australia, will be a key focus. Under the Code of Canon Law, these entities serve as the Church’s equivalent of civil corporations. They oversee Catholic ministries such as schools and healthcare.
Many of these responsibilities have transitioned from religious institutes to lay-led Ministerial PJPs in recent years. This makes them a crucial aspect of lay involvement in Church governance.
Discernment and decision-taking
Professor Heaney said the research would help improve lay leaders’ ongoing formation through a theological lens.
“As a theologian, I’m interested in exploring the theologies of ministry underpinning these emerging forms and how they interweave and support a synodal Church that involves lay people in discernment and decision-taking. This theological lens will help us identify and provide adequate resourcing and formation for such leadership” Heaney said.
Professor Calder emphasised the vocational nature of lay governance in the Church.
“For ecclesial or Church leadership, the starting point is to understand that the role of a canonical steward is a vocation or a calling to exercise the ministry of leadership in the Church as service” Calder stated.
Professor Pascoe, who has played a key role in the Synod on Synodality, added that the project would offer valuable insights into the Church’s journey toward greater synodality and shared responsibility.
The Association of Ministerial Public Juridic Persons supports the study which is expected to be completed by 2025.