The most serious situation facing the Church, for at least a couple of generations, has to be the continuing decline. Thousands of laity and hundreds of priests have left the Church. The situation should be a very high priority for hierarchy and laity, yet it is not even a low priority topic on Diocesan or parish agendas, It is not even a subject for 'Join the debate'.

I think the White Paper is spot on. We need to form our young people who sadly leave a life of regular parish attendance after they receive the sacrament of confirmation .

What an exciting project the White Paper outlines! Let us now define our Mission even more clearly.
The Christian vision set out by Pope Benedict's first encyclical 'Deus Caritas Est' is one which brings about the Kingdom of God, in which Love is the 'Lingua Franca'.
Priority 5: 'Structures for Participation, Change and Accountability' in the White Paper is most challenging. It is an enormous exercise in change management. We must never be exclusive of any parishoner, even those whose names we don't know.
'Accountability' has to be thought out very, very, carefully. God bless you!

When counting the number of Masses for the audit (proposed in Priority 5 of the White Paper), consider the evening Masses available in an area. It seems that the Sunday evening Mass and other evening Masses are disappearing in many parishes. This is at a time when shops and other services are taking into account the variety of life styles and have more flexible hours.

Liked what the Cardinal said about the formation of young people.
We need to evaluate whether the current diocesan youth set up and centres are really forming our young people to fulfil their baptismal vocation.