Religious are leading the way in asking hundreds of Catholic schools and agencies across Australia to start Lent with a commitment to buy and eat only slavery-free chocolate at Easter.

A large gathering of adults, younger people and children, most with jars or bottles of rain, tap, creek, spring, lake or river water, assembled under the trees at the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers in Wentworth, New South Wales, recently for the Blessing of the Rivers Ceremony.

Ash Wednesday has been celebrated and we have entered into the journey of Lent. In the spirit of the Plenary Council we are encouraged to continue to listen to the heart of our people, their voices and questions, for in these encounters - we are opened to both the darkness of suffering and the light of the resurrection, writes CRA President, Sr Monica Cavanagh RSJ.

On Thursday 28 February, the Department of Social Services (DSS) published a list of religious institutes which have not yet been declared in the National Redress Scheme (NRS).

“We support transparency in providing information to those who have suffered institutional sexual abuse,” says Monica Cavanagh rsj, President of Catholic Religious Australia (CRA).

As we step forward into the hopes and dreams of 2019, we pause to reflect on the role of Consecrated Women and Men in the life of the Church and the wider society.  Pope John Paul II set aside 2nd February, the feast of the Presentation in the Temple, as a World Day dedicated to Consecrated Life.  In his homily in 2019 Pope Francis spoke of the gift of encounter which is at the heart of Consecrated Life.