Renowned US missiologist, Fr Stephen Bevans SVD will return to Australia in May, 2015 as keynote speaker for the Mission: One Heart Many Voices conference.

Organisers said Fr Stephen was invited to take part in the mission gathering following his overwhelmingly well-received contribution to the inaugural Mission: One Heart Many Voices conference in 2013. Hosted by Catholic Mission and Catholic Religious Australia, the conference aims to be a multi-sector dialogue on living the joy of the Gospel and leading mission.

“It will explore Pope Francis’ vision for mission and is set within the spirit of Ad Gentes and Evangelii Nuntiandi, documents that celebrate their 50th and 40th anniversaries respectively in 2015,” says the organising team.

“Mission: One Heart Many Voices 2015 is for those who are inspired to strive creatively for justice, truth, peace, freedom, reconciliation and the Reign of God.

“It is a unique opportunity to listen, converse and experience the many and diverse voices that are an expression of the one heart of mission. The conference will explore the complexity and issues surrounding leadership, formation, theology and the practice of mission.”

Fr Stephen is the Louis J. Luzbetak SVD, Professor of Mission and Culture at Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union and a renowned teacher and author on Mission. As an SVD missionary he worked for nine years (1972-1981) in The Philippines.

In a recent article published in the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Review, he said Catholics around the world are excited by their new Pope Francis and have been amazed at his missionary outreach.

“The Pope has urged Catholics to go to the world’s peripheries, to ‘missionary disciples’, in the words of the Aparecida document of which he was the principal author,” Fr Stephen wrote.

“We see in Francis a new missionary presence, one of authenticity, humanness, friendliness.”

Other keynote speakers at the Mission: One Heart Many Voices 2015 conference will be Catholic Earthcare Australia Director, Mrs Jacqui Remond and internationally renowned Australian theologian Fr Denis Edwards. They will deliver a joint keynote address exploring mission in an ecological context and the significance of stewardship in the Christian message for the world.

Psychologist, Sr Maryanne Loughry RSM, who specialises in the mental health effects of trauma on refugees will share her stories from a local and global perspective.

And the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Paul Gallagher will give his perspective on global mission, leadership and local church.

For more information on Mission: One Heart Many Voices 2015, click here to visit its website.