In a spirit of deep reflection and spiritual communion, the third day of the 2025 Plenary Assembly of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) took place on May 7 at the Ergife Palace Hotel in Rome, focusing on the theme “Religious Women: Bearers of Hope in Demanding Situations”

The day opened with a moving prayer that invited participants to place themselves “under the gaze of Jesus” and to recognize, in the words of poet Pedro Casaldáliga, that “It is late but it is our time, the time we have at hand to shape the future.”

The morning’s roundtable brought to light three realities where women religious are a concrete sign of hope.

From the Colombian Amazon, Sr. Alba Teresa Cediel Castillo, MML, a missionary of Mother Laura, shared how her congregation has walked “among rivers and forests” for over 95 years, learning from Indigenous peoples “the true meaning of hope” in the face of challenges such as fires, deforestation, and extractivism.

From the US-Mexico border, Sr. Lisa Buscher, RSCJ, shared the story of the Collaborative for Border Ministries, an initiative uniting nine women’s congregations that served over 29,000 migrants in 2024.

 “Hope is not a feeling—it is an action,” she stated firmly.

Sr. Margaret Maung, RNDM, shared the situation in Myanmar, a country rarely free from war and political unrest, highlighting the witness of sisters who have given their lives to serve the most vulnerable, like Sr. Ann Rose Nu Tawng, who knelt before armed police pleading “to spare the children in exchange for her life.”

The day’s Eucharist, presided over by Fr. Stanley Lubungo, M. Afr., Superior General of the Missionaries of Africa

, emphasized that being a bearer of hope “does not mean dreaming of a world without a cross,” but “believing that the life of the Risen One is already at work in the wounds of our world.”

In the afternoon, the roundtable “Religious Women, Hope in a Synodal Church” featured Sr. Geraldina Céspedes (Dominican Republic), Sr. Solange Sia (Ivory Coast), and Sr. Shalini Mulackal (India), who all affirmed the essential role of women religious in advancing a truly synodal Church.

Sr. Geraldina Céspedes Ulloa, MDR urged a shift “from consumers to producers of synodality,” calling for a “spirituality of inclusion” where all voices are heard.

Sr. Solange Sia, NDC highlighted three sources of hope: the Synod as a sign of hope for women, formation initiatives in transformational leadership, and the committed service of religious sisters.

Finally, Sr. Shalini Mulackal, PBVM proposed that religious life can be a “lighthouse of hope” for a synodal Church, thanks to its long tradition of communal discernment and shared governance.

The day concluded with a collective exercise in which each participant offered a word in response to the question “What is the call for us today?”, forming a mosaic of terms such as collaboration, mercy, active listening, beacon of hope, conversion, and inclusion.

The program continues tomorrow, May 8, with the theme: “How is Consecrated Life a Transformative Hope?”

View the photo album of the third day