12 October 2025
 This podcast focuses on the broader themes of hope, change, and the role of the church in a rapidly evolving global context. Father Timothy reflects on the period between the two assemblies of the Synod as a time of germination, expressing uncertainty but also personal growth in understanding the new world order emerging post-1989. He critiques the presumption that liberal democracy was the end goal for all societies and highlights the need for the church to adapt and find its mission in bringing hope to this multipolar world, viewing the current moment as both challenging and exciting. | | | 12 October 2025
 This episode of Plenary Matters with Geraldine Doogue and Virginia Ryan introduces an inspiring new initiative within the Australian Catholic Church — the Catholic Leadership Foundation (CLF), launched in March. Virginia Ryan, the inaugural CEO, explains that the Foundation is a response to the Plenary Council’s call and the Global Synod’s vision for a renewed Church. The aim is to form lay Catholics as confident, spiritually grounded, and capable leaders who can continue the Church’s mission in education, health, and parish life — roles once predominantly held by religious congregations. The Foundation’s sponsor, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, a missionary congregation with a deep pastoral and Sacred Heart spirituality, has been instrumental in shaping this vision, especially its focus on inclusion of rural and remote communities that often lack access to formation opportunities. | | | 27 July 2025
 You are invited to join us on Sunday, 27 July 2025, to commemorate the Marist Pledge at Fourvière, first made on 23 July 1816. The event will be held at various Marist sites in Hunters Hill in Sydney, beginning with Mass at 10:00am at Holy Name of Mary Church, followed by a walking tour of the Marist Fathers' Villa Maria site, a light lunch, and a walking tour of St Joseph’s College. Please register by Monday, 21 July to attend any or all parts of the day using the registration link. | | | 01 June 2025
 Fr Richard Lennan is a priest of the diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, ordained in 1983. Aftergraduate studies at the University of Oxford and the University of Innsbruck (Austria) where hewrote his dissertation on Karl Rahner’s ecclesiology, he taught from 1992-2007 at the CatholicInstitute of Sydney. During this time, he was a member of the Australian Anglican-Catholicdialogue and served as President of the Australian Catholic Theological Association (2005-07). FrRichard moved to the United States in 2007 to teach at Weston Jesuit School of Theology inCambridge MA and is currently Professor of Systematic Theology in the School of Theology andMinistry at Boston College where he also chairs the Ecclesiastical Faculty. Fr Richard’s researchand teaching focus on ecclesiology, ministry and the theology of Karl Rahner. He has authored oredited nine books and is an editorial consultant for Theological Studies. Most recently, he was amember of the theological panel for the Plenary Council of Australia. | | |
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