The Canon Law Workshop at the UISG headquarters and online gathered about 200 Superiors General. Together with others connected online, the sisters learned about constitutions, elections to General Chapters, finances, as well as the rules of religious orders.

Let us take a closer look at some of the topics.

Sr. Kelly Connors, pm of the United States of America, explained, among other things, how the election of Superiors General and General Councilors works during the General Chapter of Religious Congregations.

The vote must be secret, certain, absolute and determined. It is won by majority vote, which can be qualified, absolute, simple or relative.

A qualified majority is determined by law (e.g. 2/3), while an absolute majority means more than half of the possible votes. Whereas simple majority means more than half of the valid votes (excluding null votes and abstentions). Finally, relative majority refers to the largest number of votes cast in favor of a person or a proposal.

In addition, Sr. Tiziana Merletti, sfp spoke about Safeguarding, i.e. the protection of minors and vulnerable. The Italian nun listed the procedures in case management, including:

Hearing of the report, full assessment of the case, internal disciplinary investigation, precautionary measures, as well as reparation of the damage and scandal.

Lastly, Sr. Regi Mathew, fc shed light on absences, exclaustration and dismissal from religious institutes. There is the term exclaustration, which means a member of a religious institute temporarily lives outside.

If it is voluntary, it is accepted for a serious cause and cannot go beyond five years. In the case of imposed exclaustration, the community is thus protected from a member whose behavior is disruptive.

These and other aspects were addressed in an atmosphere of goodwill to learn new things and to improve the leadership of the current Superiors General.