BackYarra Theological Union, Catholic Theological College and Garratt Publishing present
VATICAN II: KEEPING THE WINDOWS OPEN
Four-Part Webinar Series
Tuesday 5, 12, 19 and 26 August 2025, 7:00 pm (AEST)*
Join us as we explore Vatican II – 60 years on.
Over four sessions, participants will gain a greater appreciation of the work of the Second Vatican Council and the windows it opened for the life and mission of the Church.
You will hear from leading Australian scholars from Yarra Theological College and Catholic Theological College. The panels, moderated by Chris Monaghan CP, will explore the connections between the groundbreaking work of the Second Vatican Council, current issues facing the Church, and the call to grow as a Synodal Church.
The sessions are accredited^ with CECV/TAPS in the areas of Catholic identity, liturgy, culture, tradition, theology and faith development.
For those NOT seeking accreditation of professional development hours, the series remains FREE of charge.
SESSIONS
05/08/2025 Session One: Church as the People of God
Speakers: Dr Greg Brett CM, Dr Kevin Lenehan, Dr Claire Renkin
12/08/2025 Session Two: Liturgy and Life
Speakers: Sr Jill O’Brien SGS, Dr Brian Nichols, Fiona Dyball
19/08/2025 Session Three: Ecumenism and Interfaith
Speakers: Dr Mary Reaburn NDS, Dr Denis Stanley, Dr Patrick McInerney
26/08/2025 Session Four: The Church’s Mission
Speakers: Dr Sandie Cornish, Adjunct Professor Susan Pascoe AM, Dr Bruce Duncan CSsR
SESSION THREE
THE CHURCH’S MISSION
Tuesday 26 August 2025
7:00 pm
The event will be moderated by Chris Monaghan. Chris will be joined by Dr Sandie Cornish, Adjunct Professor Susan Pascoe AM, and Dr Bruce Duncan CSsR.
We hope you can join us.
EVENT DETAILS
WHEN: Tuesday 26 August 2025
TIME: 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm (AEST)*
WHERE: Via Zoom
COST:
No Accreditation: Free
With Accreditation: $40.00 (incl GST)^
REGISTRATION:
No Accreditation: Click on the REGISTER HERE button below.
With Accreditation: Click on the WITH ACCREDITATION button below
The presentations will be recorded and made available the Friday after the session. We will send an email with details on how to access the video once it is available.
Note: Accredition is only available for those who attend the live events.
If you are having trouble using TryBooking, download our Step-by-Step Guide here.
MODERATOR
Dr Chris Monaghan CP
Chris is a Passionist who studied at YTU and then at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and Jerusalem. Since 1987 he has been lecturing at YTU in both Old and New Testament. The major focus of his teaching throughout these years has been Matthew, Luke-Acts and the letters of Paul.
SPEAKERS WEEK FOUR
Dr Sandie Cornish
Sandie is a Senior Lecturer at the Australian Catholic University (ACU), specialising in Catholic Social Teaching. She is a member of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development. Sandie has been Director of the Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Director of Quality and Community Engagement for the Sydney College of Divinity, Province Director of Mission of the Society of the Sacred Heart in Australia and New Zealand, and has worked with the Good Shepherd Sisters in research and social policy. As the Social Justice Education Coordinator for the Diocese of Broken Bay, she had responsibility for the coordination of adult faith programs in social justice.
Adjunct Professor Susan Pascoe AM
Susan is Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia. She chairs the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), the Community Directors Council, and Catholic Emergency Relief Australia (CERA). She was a Member of the Vatican’s Commission for Methodology planning the Synod on Synodality, a Trustee of St John of God Health, and a Board Member of Mercy Health. She was a member of the Governance Review Project Team established by the Australian Catholic Bishop’s Conference (ACBC) and Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) which produced the 2020 Report, The Light from the Southern Cross: Promoting Co-responsible Governance in the Catholic Church in Australia.
Dr Bruce Duncan CSsR
Bruce was ordained for the Redemptorist Congregation in 1971. To specialise in the areas of social justice, he studied economics and political science at the University of Sydney. During this time he was one of the founding editors of the ecumenical monthly magazine, National Outlook. Since 1986 he has taught at Yarra Theological Union. He was a member of the Melbourne Catholic Commission for Justice, Development and Peace (1994-2007), and a consultant with Catholic Social Services Victoria (1998-2007). He is one of the founders of the advocacy organisation, Social Policy Connections, and previous Director of the Yarra Institute for Religion and Social Policy, which has been subsumed into the Centre for Research on Religion and Social Policy (RASP) within the University of Divinity.
*Starting times around Australia and New Zealand
ACT, NSW, QLD, TAS, VIC: 7.00 pm (AEST)
NT, SA: 6.30 pm
WA: 5.00 pm
NZ: 9.00 pm
For other international times see: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html
^ Accreditation is provided in accordance with the requirements of Catholic Education Commission Victoria. For educators outside of Victoria, you may wish to confirm with your own Catholic Education Office as to the potential 4 hours PD recognition. Attendees requesting accreditation must attend the live events – we are unable to provide accreditation for viewing the videos after the session. If you are unable to attend all the sessions, accreditation will be given for the sessions attended, be it 1 week or all 4 weeks. These hours will be uploaded into TAPS (for Victorian teachers) and certificates issued to all attendees in September 2025.
