Over three days of online sessions, more than 500 sisters gathered to learn and reflect together on Deeply Rooted Synodal Leadership focusing on Teamwork.

With the guidance and moderation of Sr Paula, UISG Formation Coordinator, Fr David McCallum, SJ, from the Discerning Leadership Team, led the inputs for each session. The journey unfolded around three key themes:

• Forming and developing a synodal team
• Awareness of self and of others
• Conflict transformation

Each day, the very insightful inputs were followed by moving and concrete testimonies from members of leadership teams from three different congregations:

• Sr Evalyne Aseyo, SNDdeN
• Sr Julie Peters, SSMD
• Sr Angela Kapitingana, MSOLA

Participants found both the inputs and the sisters’ sharing to be rich and illuminating. They described the sessions as a safe and welcoming space where they could engage from their own experience and learn how to grow in their journey as leadership teams. Throughout the sessions, the screen and chat were filled with many messages and expressions of gratitude.

The methodology combined prayer, inputs, testimonies, time for personal reflection, and longer moments of group sharing. The well-prepared sessions, live interaction, and joint meaning-making shaped a combined approach in which participants did not simply receive content, but were invited to integrate it into their own experience and leadership contexts.
Working in small, language-based groups created the possibility for each person to speak and to listen. This choice reflected a process that seeks to model a synodal approach to leadership, where reflection grows through prayer, reflection, dialogue, mutual respect, and shared discernment.

A strong emphasis was placed on awareness – both of oneself and of others – as a foundation for leadership. Participants explored different skills that help move from self-consciousness to true self-awareness, learning how deeper knowledge of one’s emotions, reactions, limits, fears, and gifts can build trust, foster collaboration, and help face leadership challenges with greater freedom and peace. Personal practices such as journaling, prayerful reflection, and asking for honest feedback were underlined as concrete tools that support this inner and relational work.

Conflict, often perceived as something we prefer to avoid, was addressed in the final session with realism and hope. Participants learned that when conflict is approached with skill, faith, openness, and courage, it can become an opportunity for growth, deeper relationships, and renewed communion. Different styles of engaging conflict were also explored, helping sisters recognise how they tend to approach or avoid conflict in daily tasks and relationships.

Overall, the sessions offered a space of joy, communion-building, and international sharing, especially meaningful in a world context so marked by selfish individualism, power struggles, and conflicts that too often lead to violence.

The next session of Deeply Rooted Synodal Leadership for Congregational Leaders and General Teams will take place online on March 11, 12 & 13 2026. The topic will be Trauma informed Leadership, led by Sr Lynn Levo, CSJ.