It has been clear for some time that the parish structures in the Archdiocese of Melbourne are no longer adequately serving the needs of the Catholic communities of Melbourne. Many of our existing parishes were established in the days when our city was not as spread out as it is currently. It was believed that there should be a church to which parishioners could walk in their local neighbourhood. In 2021 we have over one million Catholics in the Archdiocese of Melbourne and many of them are located in the new growth corridors in the north, west and south eastern regions of the diocese. This is coupled with fewer Catholics attending Mass on a regular basis and fewer priests being ordained year by year.

At the same time Pope Francis is calling us to be a more missionary Church, outward facing, and going to the peripheries of our society and engaging with the lives, hopes and dreams of the people of our world. In doing so we take with us the gospel of Jesus Christ, and begin a lively dialogue with the women and men of our day.

Last week Archbishop Comensoli began a process of talking to priests and lay people in order to establish a new footing for parish life into the future. The new direction is twofold. First of all he is asking us all to think about how we can be a more missionary Church. How can our parishes be more outward looking and focused on the lives of our people, particularly the most vulnerable? Second, we will begin to look at reshaping our parishes into partnerships or groupings of parishes working together in a missionary area. The current 208 parishes of Melbourne will be invited to collaborate and build up around 60 mission areas across our diocese.

In many ways the parishes of Camberwell, Balwyn Deepdene and Surrey Hills Wattle Park have begun this journey. We have already formed a strong partnership and are well positioned to begin looking forward to develop our more missionary strategy.

Currently representative members from our three parish councils are working together and have formed a transition to team to assist us to develop new ways of shaping our parish structural and for mission. Over the coming months you will be invited to participate and provide feedback to the direction in which we are planning. You will hear more from our parish leaders in the coming months.

In the meantime, on the 22 May, Peter Collery, Chair of the Surrey Hills Wattle Park Interim Council, Julie Douglas, Chair of the Deepdene and Balwyn Parish Council, and Vince Curatore, Chair of the Camberwell Parish Council, will join many other lay leaders in the diocese as they meet with Archbishop Comensoli begin to outline his vision for the future of the diocese.

We look forward to hearing from our council chairs and to participating in the future directions of our diocese and parishes.

By Brendan Reed