Catholic nuns in India are conducting a series of training programs as part of enabling women religious to address cha-llenges posed by sexual abuse, poor mental health, and suicidal tendencies. The Conference of Religious Women India (CRWI) concluded its tenth training work-shop from April 1 to 5 in the western state of Goa. About 50 nuns from across India attended the program, which is conducted in collaboration with the Church-run Christ University in Banga-lore. “We have begun strengthe-ning the resilience of the religious sisters to face challenges at work and to foster community support for mental well-being,” said Sister Molly Mathew, who leads this training project. The organization represents about 103,000 nuns working in various parts of India. The CRWI assistant program coordinator, Sister Renjitha Ravi, said the workshop focused on understanding distress, assessing distress, identifying individuals in need, risk and protective fact-ors, and counseling and ethics. Matthew, a member of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians, said they started the Training of Trainers program on Basic Counselling Skills for Mental Health and Wellness in November 2024. She added that about 350 nuns have benefited from it so far. The program was developed with the help of the Department of Psychology of Christ University. The nun noted that the department helps the conference assess the need to revise religious formation. Indian media reported several cases of rape, murder, and suicides of nuns in recent years, prompting Church to discuss the need to help nuns tackle sexual abuse and mental health issues.
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