Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Over these past few months I have been asked how the Diocese is responding to the questions of the Plenary Council. Each month, Sr Noreen has been adding materials for the Plenary in this newsletter. Over these past few years, the Diocese has been engaged in a listening phase which culminated in a Diocesan Assembly pre-Easter 2019. From that assembly, the participants were invited to engage in nine task groups which are currently examining the propositions that emerged from the Assembly. These task groups will report back before the end of the year. At the assembly, all the material collated was handed over to the facilitator of the Plenary, Lana, and all our thoughts generated through the three years of listening have now been incorporated into the Plenary agenda. Over these past few months, I have been meeting with the newly formed Regional Pastoral Councils which have added a great layer of pastoral discernment across the Diocese. It is my hope that the Diocesan Pastoral Council will be formed soon.

In this edition of the Newsletter, there is news from many parts of the Diocese. Recently, I was invited to attend the weekend at Twin Hills by Alan Guilfoyle (Guillie). It was a great gathering of the people of the district and on the Saturday evening, Mass and a baptism was celebrated for the local community. I look forward to joining the community in 2021 to celebrate the 21^st birthday of their gathering.

It was good to connect with the Ignite Youth Conference in Brisbane where many of our young people gathered for four days to ignite their faith in a weekend of faith, music, praise and worship. The Ignite weekend for our young is the middle weekend of the school holiday break in September. Thanks to Joy and Father Andrew who accompanied the Rockhampton group to Ignite.