Catholic Religious Australia

issues

1. Formation

2. Smaller congregations

3. Migration

4. Resources

5. Dialogue with broader Church

6. Celebrating multiculturalism

7. CRA Assemblies

8. CRA membership

9. CRA communication

10. Other issues

11. Final recommendation

1. Formation

To facilitate opportunities for congregations to collaborate on initial and ongoing formation programs in both Australia and the Pacific.
To explore the option of joint initial programs around our multicultural reality.
To dialogue with younger multicultural religious to know their realities and for current CRA membership to be informed.

action: to set up a Formation Committee to progress all of the above

2. Smaller Congregations

To intentionally support smaller congregations through:

the facilitation of services/communication for newly arrived congregations e.g. Professional Standards, Church in Australia Manual, courses or programs
the expansion of SIB interstate
the State Branches ensuring that the smaller congregations are welcomed and known by the whole membership and that the branches annually report to CRA Council on progress made
making accessible to the smaller congregations the expertise and resources of the 'bigger' congregations eg aged care, finances, legal advice and other professional assistance.

3. Migration

To resource within CRA a service to:

facilitate migration procedures for religious and candidates in liaison with ACMRO and ACBC
lobby at the political level (eg the special category for religious)

4. Resources

To identify resource people on cross cultural issues and to establish a data base.
To undertake an audit of ministries/resources that have a multicultural focus (as begun on Tuesday afternoon).

5. Dialogue with the broader Church

To play a leadership role, if appropriate, in the education on multicultural Church for Religious, Bishops, Priests and Pastoral Leaders and the general community, working with the NCP.

6. Celebrating Multiculturalism

To find ways to better understand the grace of multiculturalism and to clearly articulate its gifts.
To be mindful of the grace of multiculturalism at every CRA gathering and celebration e.g. liturgy, speakers, communication processes, constant agenda items ...

7. CRA Assemblies

To build on the 08 theme e.g.

Multi-faith (sharing with other faiths particularly around leadership)
Indigenous Australians

Incoming Council to consider an exposure and engaging setting for next Assembly e.g. Mt Druitt

8. CRA Council Membership

The incoming CRA Council membership begins to reflect the multicultural nature of CRA.

9. CRA Communication

To use the access of pathways as a means of sharing personal stories and information about the various cultures of our congregations.

10. Other issues

Address the issue of gender fundamentalism in the Church
To give urgent attention to the replacement of the Encompass Program
To address the cultural gap between the religious and the devotional Church
To support and encourage the mental and physical health of migrant workers (who happen to be religious)

11. Final recommendation

That the incoming CRA Council adopt these directions as key agenda items in the coming twelve months and report an ongoing basis to the Assembly through pathways, correspondence and the 2009 Assembly.

recommendations