The National Liturgy and Music Conference recently brought together more than 350 pilgrims from across Australia and the South Pacific in Adelaide from 1 to 3 October.
Part of the ongoing partnership between the National Liturgical Council (NLC) of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and the Australian Pastoral Musicians Network (APMN), the Pilgrims of Hope—Transformed through Sacrament and Song conference offered inspiring and rigorous keynote sessions led by Rita Ferrone, Fr Ricky Manalo CSP and Fr Richard Leonard SJ.
Each of the keynote speakers offered an informed perspective on the central place of liturgy in the Church’s mission, on how music serves as a vital expression of the Church’s sacred rites across cultures, and on the ways liturgical music celebrates a countercultural hope anchored in the risen Christ.
It was terrific to see such a range of people across diverse ministries all coming together.
The rest of the conference program offered something for everyone across the rich and diverse ministries of the Catholic Church in the Pacific region. A range of breakout sessions presented by practitioners from across Australia and Fiji offered outstanding formation opportunities, including sessions on: the meaning of baptism in the life of a Catholic Christian; the RCIA; sacred music for funerals; walking with and mentoring young people on the journey of faith; liturgical art and architecture; the role of music in a synodal church; instrumental and vocal liturgical music masterclasses; preaching; intercultural song in liturgy; liturgical music composition; linking liturgy in Catholic schools and parishes; singing as sacrament with children; Gregorian chant; the daily prayer of the Church; and evangelisation through worship.
Daily morning prayers and the conference Mass highlighted sacred music from Australian composers and also included well-known music from the tradition of the universal Catholic Church, ensuring the ‘full, conscious and active participation’ in song of the assembled conference-goers, and making for uplifting and beautiful times of prayer.
A spirited and grace-filled three days and a keenly hope-filled experience.
Dr Philip Matthias, director of music at St Patrick’s Cathedral, was a first-time presenter at the 2025 conference. His well-received ‘Song of this Land’ session explored how listening to First Nations and other cultural communities helps us to further embrace our vast and shared Australian heritage.
Philip was encouraged by the experience and the response, describing the conference as ‘excellent’ and saying he was ‘looking forward to the next one in two years time!’
‘It was terrific to see such a range of people across diverse ministries all coming together, sharing their skills and in conversation,’ he said. ‘It’s quite an art form to bring people across sectors and ministries together in this way, and the conference allowed that to happen in a good spirit.’
International keynote presenter Rita Ferrone, an award-winning writer and speaker on liturgy and renewal in the Church, has written extensively on the the centrality of the Paschal Mystery to the Church’s liturgy after the Second Vatican Council, and of the way Christ’s self-emptying, life-transforming love becomes the paradigm of the whole Christian life, experienced every Sunday in the Eucharist and in all the sacraments. It was a theme picked up by Rita in her keynote, and by several other presenters at the conference.
Rita was struck by the ‘warm welcome, enthusiastic engagement and sharing of the gifts of the local Church’ she experienced over the course of the conference, describing her time in Adelaide as a ‘spirited and grace-filled three days’ and ‘a keenly hope-filled experience’. She reflected that the conference’s themes of hope and transformation were ‘lived out in our company—and amplified—in real time’.
She particularly welcomed the opportunity the conference gave her to spend time with two prominent Australian formators in liturgy. ‘I had the great pleasure of meeting the Archbishop of Adelaide, Patrick O’Regan, who is himself a liturgist, serves on the episcopal board of ICEL and was a delegate to the Synod on Synodality,’ she said. She was also delighted ‘to reconnect with Fr Tom Elich of Brisbane, the veritable “godfather” of so many good things liturgical in Australia. Recently retired, Tom remains active in liturgy, and an inspiration to all.’
A reorientation from the ‘me’ of personal and devotional prayer and music to the ‘we’ of corporate liturgy helps us to see that the Body of Christ together is the primary living symbol and sign of Christ alive and active in the world.
Fr Tom was the founder of Liturgy Brisbane and has now handed leadership on to current NLC chair, Dr Clare Schwantes. Clare and Michael Mangan (national chair of the APMN) were co-convenors of the 2025 conference, coordinating a committed and dynamic national executive volunteer team.
Recovering the centrality of the Eucharist in the Catholic tradition was another recurring theme of the conference, with an emphasis on increasing the understanding of how various forms of prayer and music can nourish and lead us back to the liturgy as ‘source and summit’ of the Christian life.
This reorientation from the ‘me’ of personal and devotional prayer and music to the ‘we’ of corporate liturgy helps us to see that the Body of Christ together is the primary living symbol and sign of Christ alive and active in the world. This ‘we’ of corporate liturgy has implications for the texts of Christ-centred sacred music used in the liturgy, inviting us to choose music that reflects both Catholic Christian theology and the relevant liturgical season, day, moment and action (such as a Gospel acclamation or Communion procession).
The APMN Life Membership Award for 2025 deservedly went to the generous and talented Br Michael Herry FMS from Melbourne, who for many years has offered his music free of charge on his Marist Music website.
The APMN also offers three generous scholarships in service to developing liturgical musicians. One of these was awarded this year to Brendan Moloney from St Brendan’s Catholic Parish in Flemington. Brendan was initially supported to begin his music ministry journey by the late Rev Dr Bill Jordan, former parish priest of St Brendan’s. It was a special grace for Brendan to receive the award named after Fr Bill at the 2025 conference.
The NLC also launched its comprehensive new website at the conference, helping to address the significant formation and training needs of people across different dioceses in Australia. The freely accessible website—a hub for liturgy and liturgical music formation opportunities and resources across Australia—is endorsed by the ACBC and will continue to grow as new resources are added.
The conference was hosted and generously supported by the Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide and Catholic Education South Australia, with great support also given by the South Australian Government–supported Business Events Adelaide. Other sponsors included Australia’s Willow Publishing, Liturgical Song, Liturgy Help, QuackStudios, the Australian Piano Warehouse, Liturgy Brisbane and Liturgy Publications.
Learn more about the conference here. Find out how to become a member of the APMN here.
Banner image: National executive of the APMN at the Pilgrims of Hope: Transformed through Sacrament and Song conference. All photos courtesy of the APMN.