<p><em>“... a realistic, hopeful and authentically Catholic roadmap for the forthcoming Australian Plenary Council.....”</em><br />
-Frank Brennan SJ, AO</p><p>The Catholic Church has gone ‘off mission’. The scandal and tragedies of clerical child sexual abuse and the cover-up by bishops is symptomatic of a deeply ailing church.</p><p>Getting Back on Mission focuses on Jesus’ mission for the Church; it exposes dysfunctional governance involving a grave lack of accountability and transparency, and the exclusion of the People of God – particularly women.</p><p>This is a contribution to the Australian Plenary Council 2020/21. Its purpose is twofold: to get the Church back ‘on mission’; and to show how that can be achieved ‘together’.</p><p>The reforms proposed are based on sound evidence and analysis. For Catholics wanting genuine renewal of their Church, this roadmap for change is a must-read and an essential companion book for the Plenary Council.</p><p>Getting Back on Mission is forward-looking and founded on trust in the Spirit – it is about hope.</p><p><strong>Catholics for Renewal</strong> is a group of committed Catholics that has been advocating Church renewal for a decade. A legion of Catholics has supported its work involving surveys, open letters, articles, and public evidence at major government inquiries.</p><p>Catholics for Renewal believes that the Church will change only if individual Catholics take up the challenge and drive that change. Many renewal groups throughout Australia are doing just that.</p><p><u><strong>Testimonials</strong></u></p><p>“<em>This new book is a most comprehensive compendium of necessary reforms for consideration not only for the Plenary Council 2020 but immediately by every church leader as a matter of urgency</em>.”</p><p><em><em>- </em></em>Emeritus Professor John Warhurst AO, Chair of Concerned Catholics Canberra Goulburn, and Member of Australian Bishops’ Church Governance Review Panel</p><p>“<em>Want to know what the 2020 Plenary Council should be dealing with? The read Catholics for Renewal’s Getting Back on Mission.</em>”<br />
-Eric Hodgens (retired) Catholic Priest</p><p><em>”I hope this book helps navigate our Church’s sacred pastors to the wisdom and action needed to get us out of this mess.”</em><br />
– Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland</p><p><em>”... the Church as an institution is in question, by the state and by the People of God... “</em><br />
– Dr Hans Zollner SJ, leading Vatican expert in clerical child sexual abuse</p>
