On the occasion of the feast of Saint Benedict Menni, the 5th International Photography Contest will be held under the theme “We Build and Spread Hospitality.” The theme is inspired by shared responsibility in a common project that brings together sisters, collaborators, lay hospitallers, volunteers, service users and families. From diverse vocations and perspectives, we are one body in mission, evangelizing through humanizing service and the concrete witness of hospitable values.
This contest aims to provide an opportunity to express, through visual language, the richness of the hospitable charism and the values that sustain the Institution’s shared mission in the various countries where it is present.
We build and spread hospitality when we strengthen bonds, foster trust, care for others and allow ourselves to be cared for. Our hospitable identity, as an expression of mercy and shared mission, is a common project that unites people, centers and cultures, promoting a hospitality that is lived and shared with the world.
Photographs must creatively and respectfully reflect gestures, experiences, attitudes and realities that make visible how the hospitable community: builds community, strengthens bonds of trust, cares for others and allows itself to be cared for, and lives hospitality as a transformative value.
Special consideration will be given to images that convey humanity, commitment, shared responsibility, inclusion, mutual care and a sense of belonging to the Hospitaller Work.
The contest is open to individuals over 18 years of age connected to the Hospitaller Sisters. Participants may include collaborators, service users, family members, volunteers, interns, benefactors and lay hospitallers from all countries where the Congregation is present.
The rules and conditions of the 5th International Photography Contest are available at the following link.
- Photographs must be sent by email to the participant’s corresponding Canonical Province.
- Each submission must include: the registration form and the image use authorization signed by all identifiable persons appearing in the photograph.
- The submission period runs from March 1 to March 31, 2026, inclusive.
- The winners will be announced on the official website of the Hospitaller Sisters and on their official social media channels.
- In addition to the use of the photographs in Hospitaller Sisters’ communication materials, three winning photographs will be selected and awarded the following prizes: first prize €300, second prize €200, and third prize €100.
As a congregational body, let us embrace this opportunity to make our communion around the feast of our Founder visible, and to continue proclaiming—also through images—the hospitality we build and spread each day.
