Our Vision for the Future

Youth - one of our urgent priorities for our church is that we provide our youth with every opportunity to enter into the life of the church, the life in Christ. The first step in this process is for them to experience the beauty of our liturgy, our fascinating services and the richness of our traditions. We must help them to overcome the many challenges they face, and, which make them, in most cases, prisoners to this secular society.

Laity - We desire that the lay people take a more extensive and a more important role in the life and administration of the Church. The lay people, Christ’s faithful, are the most important component in the Church. Together with the clergy, they are responsible for the preaching of the Word of God, and, they share in the commission to proclaim the Good News, especially to those who are at a distance from the Church. It is our wish that the priests cooperate lovingly with the people, and, to do so in trust accepting them as real partners in pastoral work. We hope for an ever increasing bond of mutual understanding and support between clergy and laity as we work hand in hand for the building up of the Church, the one Body of Christ.

Religious Renewal - in our pastoral endeavours, we must concentrate on educational programs in spirituality and religious knowledge. This must be emphasised in every sector of our community, lest the present generation of Melkite children grow up knowing nothing of their faith and tradition.

We need to instil and develop within our people, the grace of generosity towards their church. In the Holy Bible, both Old and New Testaments, the offering is marked as ten percent. If we were to achieve this target, our priests would cease to be preoccupied with fundraisers, and, be freed to preach the Good News and only the Good News.

Priests - we are in need of priests who both grew up in this country, and who are immersed in the traditions of the Christian East, and especially our Melkite Church. Such priests can then become apostles to the Australian community, bringing to it the spirituality of the East.

Women - We need to encourage the role and contribution of women in our pastoral work. We must not forget that it was the women disciples who first announced the Resurrection of Jesus. In the Church today women must be given appropriate and significant pastoral responsibilities, and, for which the parish priests must provide suitable and adequate formation. It is good for us to remember that in the Byzantine Churches, certain women, including the early women disciples, are called, "Equal-to-the-Apostles.”

Archbishop John Issam Darwish

20 November 2009
Opening of the Convention