Executive Officer news – February 2018

February 2018 was a busy month:

• AMPJP Council meeting in Melbourne;
• Catholic Social Services conference;
• Draft Strategic Plan approved for member discussion;
• Governance Principles, Foundations and Applications paper approved for member discussion;
• Gender Equity paper approved for circulation; and
• Meetings with current and potential members.

AMPJP Council meets in Melbourne

On 21 February 2018, the AMPJP Council met in Melbourne. Two member representatives participated in the meeting via a teleconference facility. This was a tremendously productive meeting and the minutes and other material will be circulated soon. (Photo shows  some of the AMPJP member representatives: Sue Fabian (DEA); Kieran McCarthy (Mercy Partners); Moira Najdecki (GSE); Paul Oakley (EREA); Rosemary Copeland (Kildare Ministries) and Eva Skira (St John of God).

At the conclusion of the Council meeting we presented Patrick Bugden, our inaugural Executive Officer, with a certificate of appreciation.

Those in attendance for this ceremony and the lunch that followed were: Pat Bugden; Eva Skira; Paul Oakley; Rosemary Copeland; Maree Marsh; Moira Najdecki; Gabrielle McMullen; Lawrie Hallinan; Peter Nicholson and Sue Fabian. Others who were unable to attend and sent their best wishes to Pat included:  Tessa Ho; Sandra Lupi; Joe McCarthy; Margaret Bugden; Kieran McCarthy; Erica Pegorer; David Penny; Peter Steane and Jennifer Stratton. (Photo shows Paul Oakley, AMPJP Council Chair with Patrick Bugden)

Catholic Social Services Australia Conference

From 21-23 Feb 2018 I participated in the Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA) national conference. This was a great opportunity to meet some of the canonical stewards of our member organisations and meet some of the staff of their ministries. The term “Ministerial PJP” was new to many people at the conference so I was pleased to be present and discuss the AMPJP. There were many excellent presentations at the conference including some involving staff from our member’s ministries:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellness and Empowerment workshop with Darlene Dreise, Mission Executive, St Vincent’s Health Australia;
• Priorities in governance of Catholic organisations workshop with Des Powell, EREA;
• NDIS: The contribution of the Catholic network workshop with Tony Hollamby, CEO, St John of God; and
• Social Housing: Exploring opportunities for affordable housing initiatives: Chris Hall, DEC, MercyCare.

Updates to AMPJP website

New events:

• 19 April, 17 May, 21 June, 19 July 2018 CSSV, Mission Inspired Leadership Program
• 12-23 March; 11-15 June; 18-22 June; 20-24 Aug; 5-9 Nov; 12-16 Nov AICD Company Director Course in partnership with BBI-TAITE
• 28-30 May; 15-17 Aug AICD Foundations of Directorship Course in partnership with BBI-TAITE
• 12 April; 21 June; 27 Aug; 18 Oct AMPJP Council meetings
• 27-29 Aug Catholic Health Australia Conference
• 10-11 May Mary Aikenhead Ministries Conference
• 6-9 May Spiritual Care Australia Conference
• 10 March Women in the Church: Then and Now
• 8 March Launch of Catholic Women’s Mentoring Program

Members of AMPJP can access the following new items that I have posted in the Member area of our website:

• Governance Formation Options (13 Feb 2018 – General member area and AMPJP Council area)
• AMPJP Member Contact Details (07 Feb 2018 – General member area and AMPJP Council area)
• Documents for the 21 Feb 2018 Council meeting (07 Feb 2018 –  AMPJP Council area)

I have also posted the following in the public news section of the AMPJP website:

• New obligations regarding privacy breaches (26 Feb 2018 also in General member area and AMPJP Council area)
• Calvary’s Leadership in Gender Equity Recognised (25 Feb 2018 also in General member area and AMPJP Council area)
• St John of God Health Care Resists Euthanasia (15 Feb 2018 also in General member area and AMPJP Council area)
• Catholic Professional Standards Board Appointments (15 Feb 2018 also in General member area and AMPJP Council area)

Meeting AMPJP members

On 19 Feb 2018, I met with Erica Pegorer from Kildare Ministries. Erica has held this position for five years. She currently supports the Trustees of Kildare Ministries who have governance and mission responsibility for ten schools and three community works. Jeffrey Burn, Executive Officer of Kildare Education Ministries, supports the seven former Brigidine schools in Victoria and South Australia. 

Erica shared some of the experience of Kildare Ministries in supporting the Trustees and Board members on their corporate and canonical/spiritual heritage responsibilities. Kildare Ministries has a comprehensive formation program which can be viewed on their website. They also have a Mission Leader in Andrea Grant who leads this work. One of their biggest challenges is to find times for these programs that fit with the busy lives of the people who are Trustees, Board members, Principals and school leaders as well as Managers of the community works. We thought there are probably core elements of the Kildare Ministries program that are similar to those of other Ministerial PJPs and that maybe these could be offered in common. This would provide the potential for face-to-face programs to be held more often and in more venues and also for shared resources to develop online content. The possibilities and pitfalls of this idea needs more thought and discussion.

 We both became animated as we discussed the role of Ministerial PJPs as a forum for a dialogue between our Catholic traditions/aspirations and the values/hopes of our staff/volunteers/students/clients/patients. While parishes and other traditional Church structures are also involved in this dialogue, we thought ours seemed more potent. Ministerial PJPs often have many hours of contact with their staff/volunteers/students/clients/patients, many of whom have no or little contact/affection for the Catholic Church. This contact can also be at highly charged times in the person’s life. The other main difference between the traditional Church structure and us is that some of our staff/volunteers/students/clients/patients choose to engage with us primarily for a job, education, service or treatment. For these people our Catholic traditions/aspirations are a secondary or consequential factor. This is something that we see as desirable as it helps us question our assumptions and language. This process has the potential to help us develop a way of being, thinking and praying that is more relevant to the everyday lives of all of us.

Part of our excitement was also at the potential of Ministerial PJPs to help the Church (ourselves included) be better imitators of Jesus Christ. Erica shared some examples of when the Kildare Ministries Trustees have courageously spoken up for the poorest/most marginalised people in our society.

On 21 Feb 2018, I met with Leonie Keaney, from Good Samaritan Education Australia.  Leonie has held this position since January 2016.

Leonie spent some time explaining the GSE structure, which I have to admit I have always found complicated. The Good Samaritan Sisters established GSE as a new entity independent of the Sisters.  GSE has at least 15 Members: one nominated by each of the Bishops of the five dioceses in which Good Samaritan schools are situated; three Good Samaritan Sisters nominated by the Superior; and others as nominated by the Superior. A minimum of seven Members are elected by their peers to the Governing Council. The Governing Council is authorised to act in the name of GSE. This Council meets four times a year and all Members meet for an additional two meetings per year, the March and October Assemblies, for one and a half days.

Leonie shared with me the GSE Statement on the Voice and Experience of Women in Leadership. The Good Samaritan Sisters have a long tradition of promoting the participation of women in leadership roles within the Church. The GSE statement on the role of women reflects this tradition and Leonie says the statement is a foundational document that GSE canonical stewards draw on regularly.

GSE prides itself on responding positively to requests for governance information or resources from others. Leonie said they have provided copies of GSE policies and governance training packages to various schools including to a non-Catholic school that requested assistance.

We discussed the difficulty of recruiting and retaining high quality and committed people for Trustee/Board roles. We noted that some PJPs pay a fee to Trustees/Board members in recognition of the significant time and energy that they provide in fulfilling these roles.

Leonie mentioned that GSE is hosting the conference of the international Benedictine Education Network (BENet) in Sydney in 2019. This conference may be of interest to others working in education. She promised to share information on this with other Ministerial PJPs as soon as it is available.

Meet new PJP

On 08 Feb 2018, I met with Sr Lynette Toohey, Provincial of the Society of the Sacred Heart and with Robert Rae. 

Robert is Chairing the Implementation Committee of Sophia Education Ministries as they develop their PPJP. Recently the Holy See established Sophia Education Ministries as the PPJP to govern the three Australian schools of the Society of the Sacred Heart. These three schools are: Kincoppal, Rose Bay, NSW; Stuartholme, Brisbane, QLD and Sacre Cour, Melbourne, Vic.). The Society of the Sacred Heart also has, Baradene College, a school in Auckland, New Zealand which will not be included in Sophia Education Ministries due to the structure of education funding in New Zealand.

The Society of the Sacred Heart is currently providing information and discernment opportunities to about 25 people who have expressed an interest in being canonical stewards/directors of Sophia Education Ministries. The Society of the Sacred Heart is also finalising the details of the policies and procedures that will apply to Sophia Education Ministries. Robert is keen to talk to other PJPs so that Sophia Education Ministries might learn from their experience, especially as it relates to a small education focused PPJP. He expects Sophia Education Ministries to be operational in 2019.

 Significant dates March 2018

[1] http://www.un.org/en/sections/observances/international-days/index.html
[2] http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/special-dates-and-events
[3] https://www.catholic.org.au/calendar#year=2018&month=1&day=1&view=month