The organisers of the 2018 PROCLAIM Conference have posted the “Sold Out” sign for this year’s event, with more than 600 people to come together in Brisbane for the biennial gathering.
Being held in Queensland for the first time, this fourth PROCLAIM conference is organised and hosted by the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, in partnership with the National Centre for Evangelisation – an agency of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.
The theme of the conference is “Make your home in me”, drawing upon John’s Gospel. Designed primarily as a conference to inspire and resource the renewal of parishes, the 2018 PROCLAIM will address the key areas of Leadership, Cultural Change, Young People, Belonging and Evangelisation.
Shane Dwyer, the director of the National Centre for Evangelisation, paid tribute to the work of the organising committee in eliciting such an overwhelming response.
“The committee, made up of people from Evangelisation Brisbane and the National Centre for Evangelisation, has obviously created a program that is appealing to the hundreds of people who have signed up for PROCLAIM – and the dozens that are currently on a waiting list,” Mr Dwyer said.
Based on delegate registrations, almost all Australian dioceses will be represented in Brisbane, and a number of international delegates will also be at PROCLAIM, being held from July 12-14.
And while religious and priests – including bishops – have registered for the conference, more than 85 per cent of delegates are lay faithful from parishes and faith communities across the country and overseas.
PROCLAIM will feature a strong lineup of keynote speakers and facilitators from Australia and overseas, including New Zealand Cardinal John Dew, Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge and Plenary Council 2020 facilitator Lana Turvey-Collins.
Other speakers will include Cambodian Jesuit priest Monsignor Enrique Fiqaredo and Canadian Ron Huntley, whose Divine Renovation ministry was set up to help lead parish renewal programs.
PROCLAIM is being seen as a key contribution towards the preparation for the 2020 Plenary Council.
“It is expected that the discussions in Brisbane will be instrumental in shaping the way forward for the Plenary Council,” Mr Dwyer said.
Archbishop Coleridge said PROCLAIM 2018 “will inspire Catholics to explore new ways of contemplating the face of Christ in community and so empower them to set out on the new paths of mission which the Holy Spirit is tracing for us at this crucial time”.
Find out more about the PROCLAIM Conference at: http://www.proclaimconference.com.au/