Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) and the University of Newcastle invite you to participate in a webinar which will explore both global and local research concerning historical and current abuse of women religious. Over the last ten years the phenomenon of abuse of women religious has been identified in diverse contexts with many communities actively engaged in driving change. This webinar has been designed to enable participants to connect with international and Australian researchers who will share their most recent findings into safety and safeguarding, and spiritual and sexual harm among communities of women religious across the world.
The webinar is an opportunity to listen, dialogue and discern multiple pathways for responding to historical and ongoing harm.
Please join us to learn about the research work being undertaken across Australia, Germany and Africa in partnership with women religious, and the implications of the research for safeguarding.
The webinar will include dialogue with the following topics:
Prof Ute Leimgruber will discuss an important study recently published reporting on interviews with women religious impacted by sexual and spiritual harm in German speaking countries;
Dr Rocio Figueroa and her current study with women religious in African countries;
Dr Magdalena Huerten and her research into historical evidence of abuse in archival records in Europe and Australia;
Dr Kathleen McPhillips and Dr Tracy McEwan and their projects exploring current and historical evidence of sexual abuse of women religious in Australia.
Participants will also be introduced to the proposed Global Survey of Catholic Women Religious 2026-2028.
Date
Friday 31 October 2025
Time:
7.00am - 9.00am (WA)
8.30am - 10.30am (NT)
9.00am - 11.00am (QLD)
9.30am - 11.30am (SA)
10.00am - 12noon (TAS/ACT/VIC/NSW)
Venue:
Online, via Zoom
Facilitator:
Jacqui Remond
Free registration
RSVP: By Wednesday 29 October 2025
Register: To register, please click here
Registration is free and open for congregational leaders and members, and people working in safeguarding and prevention in Church contexts.
Enquiries: Natalia López Plata
Phone: 02 9557 2695
Email: secretariat@catholicreligious.org.au
Speakers:
Dr Ute Leimgruber is Professor of pastoral theology at the University of Regensburg Germany and an expert in patterns of abuse in Catholic contexts.
Dr Rocio Figueroa is a Peruvian theologian from Te Kupenga Catholic Theological College, Aotearoa, New Zealand, and specialises in sexual and spiritual abuse in Catholic religious congregations, with particular expertise in African and South American contexts.
Dr Magdalena Huerten is a research associate in the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Regensburg Germany. Her 2025 monograph Dem Schweigen zuhören (Listening to the Silence) explores the significance of the concept of epistemic injustice for research on abuse of adult women in the Catholic Church.
Dr Kathleen McPhillips is a sociologist of religion and gender at the University of Newcastle with expertise in child and adult sexual abuse in religious organisations.
Dr Tracy McEwan is a theologian and sociologist of religion and gender at the University of Newcastle, Australia, and an Honorary Fellow at the Australian Catholic University. Her monograph, Women and the Catholic Church: Negotiating Identity and Agency was published open access with Bloomsbury Academic in March 2025.
Facilitator:
Jacqueline (Jacqui) Rémond is in the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy at the Australian Catholic University, in the role of Academic Leadership and Service with expertise in Ecological Conversion and Integral Ecology. She is currently undertaking doctoral studies researching ‘Transformative Learning: Dialogue and Integral Ecology’ at the University of Notre Dame, Nulungu Research Institute in Broome, Western Australia.