In the Vedruna House of Valladolid, last weekend, about 80 people gathered, including both Sisters and lay people, for the Meeting of the Vedruna Province of Europe. They were joined by many others online, and all participated in the process of dialogue and consultation, initiated by the Provincial Team in the assembly of June 2024, to define the lines of action, the teams, the reorganization of the mission and the redefinition of structures of the Province.
They were two days of intense work, with many moments of dialogue, exchange and sharing of the road traveled so far. Sister M. Dolors Tribó has written a detailed account of the events of each day, now available for reading on the website of the Province of Europe.
During the meeting, there was also room for various testimonies on how to face with hope the closure and reorganization of communities, a very sensitive issue for which a colloquium was organized with the participation of various sisters. Through various experiences, the session served to highlight how circumstances that, in themselves, are the cause of many tears and suffering (in the words of one participant), when faced creatively from the standpoint of faith, can generate valuable fruits.
As a result of all the dialogue at the provincial meeting, six priority points were established to which the Province’s efforts will be dedicated in the next three years, available in detail in this article. To these are added the lines of action that were already underway, and three priorities of a cross-cutting nature. These are as follows:
Priority lines
- Encouraging the meaning of life and hope
- Stoking the fire of sorority in our communities
- Moving towards a single mission network
- Making decisions in the final stage of discernment
- Living in training
- Walking as a charismatic family
Processes already initiated
- Accompanying the Houses of Santa Joaquina
- Advancing sustainability
Cross-cutting lines of action:
- Communicate and communicate fluently
- Deepening the culture of protection and care
- Synodal way of doing things and shared leadership
In our ecclesial context, we ask ourselves how to advance in the expression of synodality in our way of being Church and of living as Vedruna Family. We want to adopt a critical and constructive posture, to risk taking the floor and to maintain positions that are not submissive, but inclusive. […] In this historical moment we feel strongly the call to walk in synodality as the first disciples who accompanied Jesus itinerant, who, listening to his Word, are changing their way of being and being, making decisions and participating in the shared leadership. – NdN, 30
This provincial meeting is an excellent example of the synodal and networked work that we have chosen to promote during the current six-year period, as stated in the current Chapter Document.
