The International Union of Superiors General (UISG) is scheduled to meet in Rome May 2-6 for its 22nd Plenary Assembly which will bring together some 700 religious of 71 different nationalities.
As many as 521 superiors general are expected to attend in person to discuss the theme: “Embracing Vulnerability in the Synodal Journey”.
Ten key speakers will lead reflections on the focus theme of synodality from five perspectives: vulnerability, synodal process, religious life and synodality, peripheries, and calls to transformation.
The event will be presented at 12,00 pm on April 29 at the Press Office of the Holy See by Sister Jolanta Kafka, UISG president, Sister Patricia Murray, executive secretary, Sister Franca Zonta, superior general of the Marianist Sisters, and Sister Roxanne Schares, superior general of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
A space for listening and research
“There are many ways to make synodality visible: our assembly, with its contents and methods, is an experience of synodality of female religious life and we truly hope to experience a privileged space of listening and research accompanied by the Holy Spirit,” Sister Jolanta explains. “We will discuss how we are contributing to the synodal process of the Church, how we can encourage deep listening in a synodal style, and how to enter into a dynamic of common discernment as a Church by recognizing vulnerability as a typically human feature”.
The UISG was founded in 1965 as a global forum for superiors general of institutions of Catholic women religious. Its members include some 1,900 superiors, whose general houses are distributed in 97 countries around the globe: 25 European countries; 16 Asian countries, 30 American countries, 22 countries in Africa, and 4 countries in Oceania.