Respected leaders named to conduct Church governance review

A panel of experts has been convened to conduct a national review of the governance and management structures of Catholic dioceses and parishes, including in relation to issues of transparency, accountability, consultation and lay participation.

The review was a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse after the Commission concluded that the governance and management of some dioceses and parishes contributed to the child sexual abuse crisis.

Among other organisations, the review will consider the approaches to governance of Catholic health, community services and education agencies – as suggested by the Royal Commission.

In August last year, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Catholic Religious Australia accepted the recommendation in relation to the governance review and entrusted supervision of the review to the Implementation Advisory Group. The panel was in preliminary discussions late last year and met for the first time this week.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said the review of governance will examine how Church structures – some of which were devised centuries ago – can be improved.

“We cannot ignore the wisdom that the Church has handed down through the years, but we must also be mindful that some of our practices fail to acknowledge and draw upon the best practice of other large, contemporary organisations,” he said.

“Indeed, the Royal Commission uncovered some practices that could have exacerbated the abuse of children and hampered the response to that tragic reality.

“The establishment of this panel is another step in our serious response to the Royal Commission.”

The members of the panel are:

• Ms Pauline Connelly, Chancellor Archdiocese of Adelaide, Assistant Director Centacare Catholic Family Services, Adelaide;
• Rev Dr Brendan Daly, Lecturer in Canon Law, Good Shepard College, Auckland, New Zealand;
• Jack de Groot, CEO of the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW and chair of the Church’s Implementation Advisory Group;
• Sr, Prof. Isabell Naumann ISSM, President, Catholic Institute of Sydney, Sydney;
• Justice Neville Owen, a former Supreme Court justice in Western Australia and former chair of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, which facilitated the Church’s engagement with the Royal Commission;
• Adjunct Professor Susan Pascoe AM, president and chair of the Australian Council for International Development, former Commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and former executive director of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria;
• Professor John Warhurst, Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University and chair of Concerned Catholics Canberra Goulburn;

The governance review will be to:

1. identify governance and management structures that have assisted or impeded good governance practice
2. identify cultural practices that have led to serious and widespread abuse of power
3. identify the impact that the autonomy of dioceses has had on the development of a nationally consistent response to abusive behaviour
4. identify principles of governance that will facilitate best practice
5. identify best practice examples of governance and management in the Australian Church and elsewhere, including regulatory models
6. draw on and work with world class researchers
7. recommend changes to governance and management structures to achieve best practice

Catholic Religious Australia president Sr Monica Cavanagh RSJ said that panel brings together people with a deep understanding of the Church, but also with national credibility well beyond religious circles.

“As with other groups the Church has established to advise our response to key challenges, the members of the review group are people who will give frank and fearless advice to congregational leaders and bishops on the necessary steps to preserve our tradition but embrace new methods of leading the Church into the future,” she said.

The panel expects are to produce a progress report in late April and an interim report by the end of October. A final report should be provided to Catholic Religious Australia and the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in the first half of 2020.

The governance review project plan for the review can be found here.

Media enquiries:            

Catholic Religious Australia – Sylvia MacRitchie-Hook: 0410 644 356

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference – Gavin Abraham: 0408 825 788

Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash