The Plenary Council is formally underway with the celebration of Mass in Perth.
Geraldine caught up with Fr Frank Brennan, the prominent Jesuit priest and public commentator.
What does he sense can be expected from this coming week of major talks? His day-job these days is Rector of Newman College in Melbourne but as a constitutional lawyer, he believes in contributing to the public square as a Catholic and is never timid with his interventions.
At the Plenary Council, he's been invited to be a peritus, that is, a specialist, to offer advice when asked by participants: under Canon Law, it's part of the structure of formal Councils. Periti were very influential at Vatican Two, which fundamentally turned the Church in a new direction back in the 1960s. So this is a nice link with the past and Frank Brennan will undoubtedly fulfil the role very well.

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