Catholic women from the bush to the beach link up by phone for stimulating speakers

Catholic women from all over Australia are being invited to pick up the phone and join in an exciting new initiative where they can listen to a guest speaker and then join in conversation with the speaker and other women.

Whether you are in the outback or by the seaside or anywhere in between, the Office for the Participation of Women invites you to be part of its new Teleforum program.

Director of the OPW, Kimberly Davis said the Teleforums were a new way of carrying out the Office’s mandate of acting as a focal point for ongoing dialogue regarding the participation of women in the Catholic Church in Australia.

“The Teleforums will enable women and men throughout Australia to listen and engage with an expert guest speaker and other participants over a phone line,” Kimberly said.

“They also make it possible for people throughout Australia to listen to contemporary issues in relation to women’s participation in the Church throughout Australia.”

The Teleforums got underway in August, with Sr Margaret Cameron OP as the guest speaker. Sr Margaret is the Diocesan Parish Support Officer in the Wilcannia-Forbes Diocese. She works from the Diocesan Office in Forbes, travelling to parishes such as Brewarrina, Bourke, Hillston and Cobar.

“Sr Margaret’s talk on ‘An experience of empowering lay leadership in parishes’ was absolutely inspiring,” Kimberly said.

“The conversation that followed Margaret’s talk was also most enlightening, with participants taking the opportunity to share their own experiences of success in this area.”

The next Teleforum will take place on Thursday, October 16, during which Sr Trish Madigan OP will speak on the topic, ‘What’s happening in Interfaith Relations?’.

Trish, who is the Executive Officer of the Broken Bay Diocesan Ecumenical Commission, will share her experience of initiating projects and contributing to the building up of interfaith relations in many contexts in Australia.

The Teleforum will run from 5pm to 6pm AEDT and the cost is $20 per phone line. For more information, or to register, contact Kimberly Davis at the Office for the Participation of Women on 02 6201 9867 or email director.opw@catholic.org.au.