In 2018, Pope Francis approved the Australian bishops’ request to convoke their first plenary council (definition) since 1937.

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, who celebrated the opening Mass (video), said, “We have not been called to advance any particular agenda, be it our own or someone else’s. We have been called to enter into a sacred space, as brothers and sisters in Christ, to listen deeply for the voice and to be alert to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, as these emerge through all the different elements of our week together, and as they have emerged and matured over the years of our preparation for this moment.”