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

“For the Church to flourish, it is crucial that we come to terms with the flaws of clericalism and move beyond its patriarchal and monarchical matrix,” said Bishop Vincent Long of Parramatta. “The new wine of God’s unconditional love, radical inclusivity and equality needs to be poured into new wineskins of humility, mutuality, compassion and powerlessness. The old wineskins of triumphalism, authoritarianism and supremacy, abetted by clerical power, superiority, and rigidity are breaking.”