Hundreds of young nuns and sisters from all over the world gathered in Rome June 3 - 7 to debate the future of religious life and the role of women as leaders in the church.

​

HOPE 2025 is a gathering for all Catholic sisters under the age of 65 coordinated by the Leadership Collaborative, a US-based program that fosters leadership skills among women religious globally.

​

The gathering brought together nearly 200 sisters from six continents at the Fraterna Domus Sacrafono retreat center outside Rome, as well as more than 100 sisters online via Zoom.

​

Over the course of five days the sisters met to connect, lament, and lead into the future for religious life and the church. Offered in five languages, it represented a historic moment bringing the global sisterhood into a concrete reality.

​

Topics that emerged included racism, neo-colonialism, declining vocations and aging populations. Despite this, Hope convener Romina Sapinoso, a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati said:

​

“There is hope because there is a horizon waiting for women religious like us and for our aching, suffering and beautiful world. We are here, looking at that horizon, and actively participating in God’s creation of it… we have an answer to global indifference [...] Global sisterhood. In a time when the world is polarised, fractured, and divided, we are here to connect and engage with one another.” 

​

Sr Linda Buck CSJ, Executive Director of the Leadership Collaborative, said: “The Leadership Collaborative is excited to host this unique opportunity as we continue to explore the current and emerging realities and concretely experience the gift of the global sisterhood. This generation of women religious need to have space for personal and collective exploration, to talk about what is most important, strengthen relationships, and explore our ability as leaders to foster gospel values in the world. As we live into this future, we need to share, pray, and be creative about responding to the Spirit’s movement at this moment.” 

​

The inaugural gathering was held in January 2024 in Chicago. With over 250 sisters gathered, there was a call to expand these gatherings to build the necessary bridges for our current and future realities.

​

The Leadership Collaborative mission is to foster transformational leadership for religious life and the gospel mission, now and into the future. It began with a collaborative vision to envision leadership to meet the needs of the complexity of our current and future realities. It continues to create programs that capture the hearts and minds of women religious who seek space for the conversations that are needed today, gazing over the horizon to what is emerging.

​

For photographs, video and quotes/interview: Tammy Townsend Denny, Associate Director  Communications, tdenny@leadership-collaborative.org