Forty Religious gathered at Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney recently, for CRA’s professional development seminar, a day intended to provide enrichment and inspiration for leaders, with four speakers covering various areas of expertise.

“Pope Francis: lessons in leadership and the path to transforming the culture of the Church” was presented in two inspiring sessions by Mark O’Connor FMS, Vicar for Communications at the Diocese of Parramatta and Pope Francis Fellow, Newman College, University of Melbourne. Through his multi-media presentation, Mark animated the audience with examples of the multi-faceted nature of Pope Francis, as an anti-clerical reformer, a leader who makes mistakes, a sinner who prioritises mercy, an agent of solidarity, a disruptive and prophetic voice challenging the Church and the world. In the history of popes, Mark highlighted Pope Francis’ place.

Mark illustrated how Pope Francis’ revolutionary attitude and genuine compassion were transforming the Church “… the thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful” (Pope Francis, 2013).

“Are we a Church capable of warming hearts?” asked Mark. Francis says the world needs a Church capable of walking at people’s side, of doing more than simply listening to them. Mark added that we need to know how to interpret, with courage, the larger picture and noted that almost everything in the Church is open to evolution, quoting Pope Francis as follows:

“Christian doctrine is not a closed system incapable of generating questions, doubts, interrogatives—but is alive, knows being unsettled, enlivened.... It has a face that is not rigid, it has a body that moves and grows, it has a soft flesh: it is called Jesus Christ.” (Pope Francis, Florence, 2015)

Mark’s presentation imbued the audience with a sense that the Holy Spirit is working to enable transformation in the Church, and that with Pope Francis at the helm, the culture was on a path towards change.

Dr Megan Brock RSJ employed her vast expertise as a facilitator and psychologist to facilitate a group discussion and raise the participants’ consciousness about how they can transform culture in their own environments. Megan challenged the audience with questions such as, “What does the Church need to let go of, so that it is recognisable to Jesus of Nazareth?” Throughout the group discussions, she reminded those gathered that, “You don’t have to see eye to eye to stand shoulder to shoulder and move forward”.

*ACRATH Executive Officer Christine Carolan.*

This was followed by a powerful session on “Curbing Modern Slavery in Supply Chains” by the Executive Officer of Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH), Christine Carolan. Her presentation revealed the hidden nature of slave-like practices, complicity, and the importance of systemic responses, including how to comply with the new Modern Slavery Act. Christine gave examples of the work that ACRATH is doing to combat human trafficking by working with organisations, such as St Vincent’s Health Australia, to explore the supply chains of services and goods used by organisations, to determine which are liable to human trafficking, and develop a plan to address these issues.

*CRA National Executive Director, Anne Walker.*

With great clarity, Anne Walker, CRA’s National Executive Director, summarised Pope Francis’ most recent motu proprio, Vos Estis Lux Mundi (You are the Light of the World) promulgated in May 2019. Anne explained that this is a legally binding, canonical document, which has a wider application than other documents relating to safeguarding published by the Holy See as it applies to clerics and religious. It extends the notion of abuse beyond sexual abuse and child abuse material to include language such as abuse of power and specifically refers to conduct that intends to interfere with or avoid investigations. Anne also explained that the document includes new procedural norms to ensure that bishops and religious superiors are held accountable for their actions. The law came into force on June 1, 2019 and is effective for a three-year ad experimentum period. It has significant ramifications for religious institutes and some gaps and questions were identified by Anne in the session. Anne will continue this work in an effort to provide feedback to the Holy See during the ‘experimental’ period.

The feedback from leaders was outstanding, including from the current President, Peter Carroll FMS and two past Presidents who attended the seminar, Monica Cavanagh RSJ and Ruth Durick OSU. While leaders are time poor, the feedback indicated that more personal and professional development opportunities like this one, would be valuable.

*L-R, past presidents of CRA, Monica Cavanagh RSJ and Ruth Durick OSU and current President Peter Carroll FMS at the professional development seminar.*