‘Camaraderie and fraternity’ on the agenda for Archdiocesan Clergy Assembly

2021 Clergy Assembly

Archdiocesan clergy will hold their annual conference next week (12-16 May) at St Clement’s retreat and conference centre in Galong, northwest of Canberra.

Agenda items include preparations for this year’s Archdiocesan Assembly, safeguarding, and liturgical reform.

“The get-together is akin to professional development for us,” said Fr Trenton van Reesch, Cathedral parish administrator and the Archdiocese’s director of clergy life and ministry.

With the Archdiocesan Assembly taking place during our Year of the Holy Spirit in October, Fr van Reesch said the Archbishop would deliver a key address at Galong on the clergy’s responsibilities for the landmark event.

“He will be speaking to us about what it means for the clergy, what it means for our Archdiocese, and how we should prepare for it,” he said. 

Safeguarding was also an important agenda item, and Fr van Reesch said the Archdiocese’s manager for professional standards and safeguarding, Maria Hicks, will present on the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference document, “Integrity in Our Common Mission”.

Fr Peter Williams, Vicar General for the Diocese of Parramatta, will be the conference’s guest speaker. He will discuss the liturgical reforms which have taken place 60 years after the promulgation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.

The Constitution is a Second Vatican Council initiative that, among other things, seeks to promote more active participation by the laity in the church’s liturgies.

Clinical psychologist Angela McCabe will discuss occupational stress, self-care, and professional obligations for our priests and deacons.

Fr van Reesch noted the hours priests worked were “not set in stone”.

“You can keep on going and going non-stop for two weeks without ever recognising the necessity of self-care, physically, psychologically, and spiritually.”

He added that self-care for clergy was an important professional obligation “so that we can serve others.”

Camaraderie and fraternity were other important objectives of the gathering.

“We don’t get to be with each other as much as we like. So, it’s also a time of fraternity,” Fr van Reesch said.

He explained that the Wednesday night of the conference was usually set aside for the “jubilarians dinner,” a celebration for those celebrating a significant milestone of 40, 50 or even 70 years of priestly ministry.

“There are no jubilarians this year, but we’ll still have a formal dinner focused on us being together. It’s a huge highlight that we always enjoy,” he said.