Women religious will soon be able to access a national database that supports communication between dioceses and religious institutes about the credentialling of clerics and religious.

Women’s congregations are now being formally invited to consider whether they would benefit from use of the Australian Catholic Ministry Register.

Australian Catholic Safeguarding Limited chief Ursula Stephens said that the opportunity for women religious to make use of the ACMR had long been intended and is now possible because of the recent completion of significant improvements to the register.

“We are delighted to be in a position where we can formally invite women religious to use the register and commence the process of onboarding,” Dr Stephens said.

“During the establishment of the register it had been decided to focus on clergy and male religious. We’re very proud to now be extend this invitation, both because women religious will be able to benefit from the register and because it means that the whole Church will now have equal access to the ACMR.”

“The ACMR is an important safeguarding tool, as it allows users to manage the movement of people within their institutes and between institutes without needing to fill out multiple safeguarding declarations.

“This means that institutes can save a lot of time while still ensuring that people are safe and appropriately credentialed to carry out ministry across jurisdictions.”

ACSL is writing to congregational leaders to make them aware of this opportunity and will begin processing applications for women religious to join the register from November 1.

Source: Australian Catholic Safeguarding Limited via CathNews.