From April 12 to 20, a meeting was held at the Congregation’s General House for the sisters superiors and those in charge of the centers in Africa. The objective of the meeting was to initiate a path of formation and integration to help care for community life and the mission of the Sisters on the African continent.

Eleven Sisters, local Superiors, Vice-Superiors, and Sisters in leadership positions in the centers of Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Cameroon, Mozambique, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Paris participated in the meeting. 

In conclusion, they highlighted discernment as essential, as they perceived the importance of leadership training and knowing themselves to welcome and accept the Sisters in the community and the people in the team with whom they work.

In this sense, the importance of synodality in leadership was also underlined because it points to a way of living and acting that defines the community. Etymologically, “synod” comes from the Latin sinodus, which means “encounter,” “meeting,” “joint action.” It is a word that we understand as “walking together.” 

In this walk with the other, dialogue embodies this idea of synod, which is “thinking and speaking together.” The word will be a tool of dialogue when it is born of a willingness to listen. Only a humble word can build a dialogue and a better world because in this communication there is an encounter that favors communion in relationships. 

Finally, we would like to conclude with this quote from Sr. Begoña, that summarizes this meeting: “Synodal spirituality reveals itself as a spirituality that from listening, dialogue and discernment, takes charge of reality without ceasing to walk with others, with those who are different. It advances patiently and painstakingly, step by step, in sustained resistance, building a communion that is vulnerable, but which resists because it is embraced by all”.