Executive Officer Report April 2025

Happy Easter

I held back this April newsletter till Easter, as this is the main feast of the Christian year and really must be celebrated. One of the key aspects of Christianity in unsurprisingly the life of Jesus. This is because the life of Jesus was when God came on to earth, to share our life and to guide us to the Good life which had planned for each of us.

The resurrection is the culmination of this life, and indeed, the proof of his divinity.

For the non-believer, the answer to the question, ”where is the proof that Jesus actually resurrected?”, is found in the subsequent lives of his disciples. If the apostles did not see and believe the resurrection of Jesus, would they have then gone out on extraordinary travels throughout the world as they knew it, and be prepared to die for the sake of sharing the story of Jesus?

So Happy Easter to you and all you love and care for.

Pope Francis has entered his new life…

“Christ is risen! These words capture the entire meaning of our existence, for we were not made for death but for life.”

This last tweet of Pope Francis sums him up. He was a great optimist, thinking that we can indeed make this world a better place, and that our lives will be enriched by that. There is no doubt that in the two key areas of the Christian life, sharing the Word of God, and reaching out to people in need, Francis favoured the latter.

His example is a clear message to us. Every Catholic should be personally reaching out to people in need.

He was also a remarkable people person. When I first met Pope Francis as part of the Catholic Mission annual assembly in Rome, I was amazed, that for the minute or so you were with him, you had his intense interest and attention. And when I returned to my seat, everyone of the others there said the same thing.

At the end of the meeting, Francis saw that some of the Catholic Mission office staff who normally wouldn’t attend that meeting, had come and sort of hidden in the corner, just to see the new Pope. He insisted that every one of them come forward and meet him. They just ran as a group to him, and tearfully talked with him one by one.

Sister Mary Wright IBVM 1945 – 2025

There was another great loss this month when the Loreto sisters announced the death of Sr Mary Wright , former Province Leader and Institute Leader, on 29 Mach 2025.

Taking from the news release at the time of her passing, we hear that in 1987 the then Province leader Sr Anne McPhee, recognising the evolving needs of the Church and religious life, asked Mary to pursue a doctorate in canon law at the University of St Paul in Ottawa, Canada. At the completion of her study, Mary practiced canon law in Australia and Rome, serving at the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Her service in the Congregation included involvement with developing Public Juridic Persons, especially in the USA, Canada and Australia.

It was in this field that Mary made such an important contribution to the life of the Catholic Church, not only in her practical assistance in the development and growth of Ministerial Public Juridic Persons, but also in her clear explanation to their growing importance in the Church. Her famous speech of 2018 where she described MPJPs at the third leg of the Church stool, along with the Bishops and the Religious Institutes, is still referred to by many leaders in the Church, AMPJP would like to thank Mary for her wonderful contribution to the recognition of the growing role of lay leadership in the Church through MPJPs.

May she now rest in peace.

Mission and Evangelisation in four Bible references

One of Mary Wright’s great talents was to take the complex and explain it in simple terms. It might be helpful for some newer canonical stewards/trustees try to do the same, in explaining Mission and Evangelisation through Bible references.

We start at the end of the Gospel, where Jesus makes the Mission of the Church clear.
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt 28 19-20,
So the Mission of the Church is to make Disciples, who, by being disciples, follow the example of Jesus. Making disciples might also be described as formation.

How do we explain simply how to follow Jesus as a disciple? Jesus explained it this way:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.” Matt 22:37-39…

God doesn’t actually need our love, so, inspired by God’s love for us, we mostly show our love by loving our neighbour. This means especially reaching out to people in need, as per the following Gospel chapter on the Good Samaritan.

In following God and having this sense of a life lived for others, we also experience “Life to the Full’, what social commentator Hugh Mackay described as the “Good Life”. Pope Francis spoke of the Joy of the Gospel. Jesus said: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10.

It is reasonable to expect that when people genuinely reach out to people in need, and have a good life in a Catholic community, others may be interested. So as we hear in the letter of Peter, we should “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,” 1 Peter 3:15

Survey of Canonical Stewards

One of the interesting aspects of the work of AMPJP is to promote the growth of formation for all within MPJPs, such as through our CathEvents site and our endorsement of the new Governance Ministry Leadership Program. Going one step further, we will now look at gaining an understanding of what the needs of canonical stewards are in terms of formation, and what areas they feel are their personal strengths and weaknesses, so we gain an overall understanding.

This anonymous survey will be a new approach, though it is not really that innovative in some ways. In one of the few ways they are leading the way in the Church, the parishes have been undertaking a survey seeking similar input from parishioners since 1996.

Partnerships are the key to quick wins

We have found lately that the way AMPJP can move forward quickly with limited resources is through partnership. Our new partnership with the Catholic Development Fund has resulted in the CathEvents email increasing from 150 to 3,800 recipients, as well as promoting to many in the Church that MPJPs and AMPJP actually exist!

One of our key aims in the AMPJP strategic plan is to increase the level of formation for canonical stewards and other key Church leaders. When ACU promoted the possibility of a Governance Ministry Leadership Program, AMPJP became an informal partner because a huge piece of work is being done for us by another Church organisation. We achieved a key aim with minimal effort or expense!

A third partnership is with the Inclusive Governance in a Synodal Church project, with Susan Pascoe and again ACU. This is taking considerable time and effort. However it will deliver by the end of April papers on the theology and canonical status of Ministerial PJPs and canonical stewards/trustees perhaps equal in volume to all that has been written previously, and by the world’s leading experts. And that will probably be equalled next year again, with a focus on formation.

There may be a project that your MPJP or other ministry would like to undertake on a national basis. It might be something that you do extremely well that you believe is worth sharing, Consider a conversation with AMPJP which may lead to making that happen through a partnership.