By Eric Martin
Troy Tornabene and Eric Robinson, the two-man team who worked with the Plenary National Committee in putting together the new phase two Listening and Discernment process, credit God with the idea of bringing together such a successful partnership – one that has grown into a friendship that effectively enables His work.
The Archdiocese of Brisbane Office of Evangelisation staff members recently took time out from their busy schedule to talk to The Record about their personal testimony, and how experiencing life with Jesus’ love has brought them to the point of passionately embracing such a colossal task for the sake of His Church.
“I would say that I am the traditional ‘cradle’ catholic,” Troy said.
“I was born into a Catholic family, attended Mass weekly, was an altar boy, went through Catholic schooling and I even attended Catholic University for my studies: most people who knew me as I grew into adulthood were convinced that I was destined for the priesthood.
“And for a long time, I would have agreed with them: as a young person, I was certainly fascinated with the Liturgy of the Eucharist.”
Eric explained that he too was raised in a strong Catholic family, though as the youngest of five children.
“Both my parents were leaders in the local parish and wider community, and from a young age we were always encouraged to explore our faith, question the status quo, and our parents were passionate about advocacy for the most marginalised in our society.
“This for me was faith in action: that deep sense of compassion and a call to action for those suffering the most in our society, left a strong impression on me and my understanding of what it is to be a Christian,” Eric said.
During his final years of primary school, Eric’s eldest brother was diagnosed with a brain tumour, turning his family’s life completely upside down. The experience of watching his parents care for his brother at home until he died had a deep and long-lasting impact on Eric.
“I watched as my family came to terms with the enormous loss of a beautiful person (my brother was aged 20 when he died),” Eric shared.
“But through all of the pain and grief my parents somehow continued to provide us with a strong vision of a loving God that could bring goodness through all things – even death.”
It was at this time that Eric’s family received support from a Passionists priest whom they had met through the Passionist Family Groups.
“He travelled the journey every step of the way with my family and brother,” Eric said.
“Through the death of my brother my understanding of God’s love grew and my journey with the Passionists began.”
Early in his teaching career Troy was encouraged by a Principal to complete a Grad. Cert in Theology before moving onto a Master’s in theology, and it was through these studies that he became more interested in church history, structure and theology.
“If you had asked me back then, I would have been positive that teaching was my true vocation,” Troy said.
“At the time, I could not have imagined where Jesus would lead me in the future.”
The hard-won qualifications saw him seconded from Catholic Education to a new position within the Archdiocese of Brisbane’s fundraising team in mid-2011: a role building a ‘culture of giving’ in the area of Catholic education.
“During the first six months in this role, I engaged with more than 90 percent of schools and parishes within the Archdiocese – something that not too many people have achieved,” Troy shared.
“This experience opened my eyes to the wide and varied nature of the Catholic Church in Brisbane – from the wealthy and expanding communities to the communities that could barely pay the electricity bill each quarter.
“I was humbled by the faith, devotion and commitment of the many priests and lay-people supporting our communities.”
The experience of driving cultural outcomes in Catholic education led Troy to pursue work as a Relationship Manager for the Archdiocesan Development Fund, where he continued to support parishes, schools and communities with their funding, accounts etc. for four years.
However, it was while working as a Safeguarding Officer that Troy experienced one of the most challenging moments in his life, one that led him to the Evangelisation Brisbane team and, ultimately, his involvement with the Plenary Council.
“While working as the Archdiocesan Safeguarding Officer, a decision was made that my position was no-longer required due to restructuring: I had less than six months to find a new job,” Troy shared.
“As anyone who has faced this situation before knows, it is the most stressful experience: Uncertainty about your next job is one issue, but add to that a sense of loss, of being unvalued and discarded just amplifies everything.
“I was confident that Jesus would lead me through this – but it seemed like an eternity when he did.”
There was a Team leader position for Evangelisation Brisbane advertised.
“I must admit – I opened the application 3 times and quickly closed it again thinking that it was not for me – but Jesus has other plans,” Troy laughed.
A day or so before the application for the position closed, he ran into one of the team from Evangelisation Brisbane and just happened to mention that he had looked at the position several times before closing it.
“It was through her encouragement that I applied and thankfully was successful,” Troy said.
“The saying ‘God works in mysterious ways’ is also very appropriate for how I have found myself in the role of Plenary Coordinator for the Archdiocese of Brisbane,” Eric shared.
“A role I feel deeply privileged to be in at this time.
“I landed this role, following my position as the Event Coordinator for the national Proclaim 2018 conference which was hosted by Brisbane in conjunction with the ACBC: the conference had been a great success nationally and during the preparation and delivery of Proclaim 2018 I became familiar with the Plenary Council process and the journey ahead,” Eric said.
“Having met the national Plenary facilitation team I felt I had something to contribute. Taking on this role has allowed me to continue working locally with an amazing group of people at Evangelisation Brisbane (including Troy of course).
“This highly experienced and talented team have helped me with the delivery of all aspects of the Plenary journey to date,” Eric concluded.
“It is through people that I meet Jesus every day, and that can be challenging at times, but it also brings a great sense of joy and freedom in my life.