The aim is for people to use the resource at home.

Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli says the home remains the prime location within which faith can be formed and nurtured.

This was the case in the early Church. People assembled and passed on the faith in family homes.

"Might not this also be our calling at this time and place?" Comensoli suggested.

Called Journeying Together, the new online resource for sacraments of initiation was created specifically to serve the Catholic Church needs in Australia.

Comensoli says it offers parents an accessible, easy-to-use resource to help them participate in their children's spiritual formation and faith journey.

"Journeying Together facilitates an at-home experience of ‘God-talk' and is designed not to replace but to complement children's sacramental preparation in a Catholic primary school or parish catechetical setting," he says.

The Confirmation and Eucharist modules are currently available, with Penance and Baptism to follow.

Each of the modules is divided into four sessions. The process helps parents and children explore the meaning behind the elements of the sacrament and grow in the Catholic faith through a spiritual encounter with Jesus.

Comensoli says each session has the feel of a home liturgy, teaching the core elements of the sacrament, but always ending in a prayerful processing of the content.

"The audio elements include children reading Scripture, adult voices narrating various sections, and occasional music. Families are encouraged to engage with the resource through interactive quizzes and comparison slides," he says.

Photos and artwork are used to re-enforce key points.

"The wide variety of learning objects cater to a range of learning styles," Comensoli says.

Each weekly session takes approximately 45 minutes.

Journeying Together - the resource can be found at sacraments.melbournecatholic.org.

Source

• Melbourne Archdiocese
• Melbourne Archdiocese

Comensoli told his diocesan clergy and parish lay leaders that the diocese is on a ‘threshold' and either we do something or ‘sink into the sunset'.

He conceded the church's painful history and parishioners abandoning the pews had caused serious challenges.

The Archdiocese currently has 209 parishes with an average of 5052 Catholics. But only 13% of Catholics across all parishes typically attend weekend Mass. In the largest parishes as few as 6% attend.

In briefings to church officials, the Catholic leader has suggested overhauling Melbourne's 209 parishes into about 50 to 60 "missions".

The missions would be parishes grouped together based on common districts, ethnic communities or needs.

Under the plan, which could take between three and five years to implement, two priests could be based at each mission. They would live together in the same residence enabling resources to be pooled.

Figures show that the Catholic church is struggling to address priest shortages. More than half of the 224 priests and 28 seminarians in training in Melbourne 2019 were either born or recruited from overseas.

Archbishop Comensoli has not suggested the restructure would result in parishes being forced to close. Instead, he insisted that the shift was merely designed to help parishes thrive and adapt to "changing circumstances" confronting the church.

The Archbishop's comments come less than three months before the most significant conference Catholic Bishops have held in years, the Plenary Council. The meeting is due to take place in October.

While Catholics are pushing for reform, some have accused the Archbishop of failing to do the very thing the Plenary Council process promised. That is to consult with lay people about the structure and governance of the church.

"Comensoli has effectively thumbed his nose at the Plenary Council," said Catholics for Renewal spokesman Peter Wilkinson. "He has made a unilateral decision, settled on his own proposal, and then, only afterwards, invited them to comment on its implementation."

The Archdiocese has rejected these concerns, telling The Age that parishes would not be abandoned. The consultation process began a few weeks ago with two major briefings involving clergy and lay representatives.

"This is not an ‘imposition', but a response to having listened within the Archdiocese," a spokeswoman said.

"This will be a long journey. The next steps include regional meetings in August and September, followed by more local gatherings in October and November. All gatherings will involve both clergy and lay representatives, chosen at the local level."

Sources

The Age

Although the current financial situation is not believed to relate directly to the financial compensation payouts as a result of clergy abuse, it feeds into the way the church does its business.

The issue has provoked concerns about the impact on church attendance among the traditional Catholic support base in the country's largest archdiocese.

While there has been some growth in some parishes due to immigration, there is alarm about a forecast drop-off in support from the offspring of elderly churchgoers horrified by the extent of the abuse problem.

These factors are among those that resulted in Archbishop Peter Comensoli making plans to cut administrative staff across the archdiocese's cathedral, finance, property, communications and parish development offices.

He has also outlined reform of the church's mission agencies to "reduce the number of silos" in the organisation, which is the faith's largest in Australia.

The current restructure is believed to be part of one of the biggest ever embarked upon by an archbishop.

Comensoli, who replaced Cardinal George Pell, has been calling for restraint and a new way forward to deliver services.

"This sad and difficult moment has come at the conclusion of a process of discernment and consultation over the past two months,'' Comensoli wrote to priests last week.

"The time taken to reach decisions about the reformation of the administrative side of the archdiocese has involved an extensive period of reflection, discernment and consultation with staff members.

"Every person in the administration-support areas has been personally consulted and there have been many meetings in small groups to consider a sustainable structure for the future.

"Most especially, please reach out spiritually and pastorally to any staff member or their family you may know affected by these decisions.''

Comensoli wants the church to be placed on a "missionary footing'' as it approaches its new future.

Some priests and senior staff think Comensoli should have found other ways to navigate through the funding crisis.

However, Comensoli says he consulted Rome and other senior priests over the issue.

He hopes to further clarify the extent of the proposed reforms by the end of this week.

Source

• The Australian
• Image:Catholic Outlook