9 December 2020 

Parents of children in Catholic Schools

Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne 

Dear Parents, 

As the days rush by towards Christmas, may I write in thanks for the tremendous love and care you have given your families in such a hard year. 

Many of us are joyful at the simple prospect of 2020 being over! 

For parents in Catholic schools, I am grateful for the collaboration between our incredible teachers and principals and yourselves, in guiding your children through long days and weeks of learning from home, with all the ups and downs of the lockdown situations. 

For a number, some heartbreak and loss has been mingled with other challenges, as well as distance from loved ones. My own prayer has been for you and your families, and I am trusting that in the time ahead the Holy Spirit will bring fresh joy and encouragement, and some well deserved rest. 

As the year comes to a close, may I also bring to your attention a significant change that has been taking place in the background this year, in which principals and parish priests have been acutely involved: the creation of a new company, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS), to govern Catholic schools in Melbourne as of 1 January 2021. 

For you, as parents, you will notice no real change in your Catholic schools. It will be largely 'business as usual as the year begins and students find their way into a new grade and new challenges. However, the day-to-day business of Catholic schools will not alter as such. 

In fact, the Constitution for MACS makes it crystal clear that the parish and the school, especially through leaders such as the parish priest, principal, and the School Advisory Council, will have a responsibility to collaborate and continue to build up Catholic schools as the faith filled, generous learning communities that they are. 

St Patrick's Centre, PO Box 146, East Melbourne VIC 8002 Australia 

Tel: +61 3 9926 5612 Email: archbishop@cam.org.au 

If you would like to learn more, please consult the material at the following website, which has been available throughout the year as this work has developed: 

https://governance.melbourne 

For my part, the change from Catholic Education Melbourne to MACS has been the fruit of much hard work, in which the legacy of Catholic education is being upheld with gratitude for the past and much hope for the future. 

Let us work together in the time ahead to continue to provide the best, the very safest, and the most generous learning environment we can for students and their families. 

Catholic schools are a fruit of the Gospel and I give thanks to the Lord Jesus and his faithful disciples in Melbourne for building such schools, filled with so many gifts and diversity. 

May we celebrate the birth of the Lord this coming Christmas, filled with gratitude, blessed with some time away from it all, and sharing that manifold joy with one another for which Catholic faith has always been so famous. 

With appreciation, and blessings on you and your family. 

Yours sincerely in Christ Jesus, 

Most Rev Peter A Comensoli Archbishop of Melbourne 

St Patrick's Centre, PO Box 146, East Melbourne VIC 8002 Australia 

Tel: +61 3 9926 5612 Email: archbishop@cam.org.au