A new journey of dialogue, discernment, and international collaboration to strengthen the Church's educational mission and foster greater synergy among Catholic educational networks.

• Date: Wednesday, 7 October 2026
• Time: 2:00–4:00 PM (Rome time)
• Format: Online (Zoom)
• Languages: EN, ES, FR, IT
• Registration deadline: 21 September 2026
• Registration: CLICK HERE

The Listening Forum on the Church's Educational Mission, promoted by the UISG, the USG, and the Dicastery for Culture and Education, revealed a shared conviction: no single institution can face today's educational challenges alone.

Voices from all five continents expressed a desire to strengthen the bonds among religious congregations, educational networks, ecclesial movements, and Church organizations, so that the richness of their diverse charisms may be transformed into an increasingly shared commitment to education.

For this reason, we warmly invite you to a first international gathering for listening, dialogue, and discernment, addressed to Catholic educational networks and to all those who, each day, sustain and animate their educational mission.

This meeting is intended especially for lay and consecrated women and men who serve in leadership, coordination, or accompaniment roles within educational networks and institutions. More than a representative gathering, we hope to offer a space for encounter and shared reflection where we can recognize our common challenges, value existing experiences, and open new paths for collaboration.

Objectives of the Meeting

Building on the insights that emerged through the listening process, our aim is to identify concrete opportunities for international collaboration around four shared priorities:

1. Collaboration and Networking: Strengthen partnerships, share resources, and develop joint initiatives that can sustain and renew Catholic education.
2. Formation and Identity of Educational Leaders and Staff: Promote shared pathways of formation and accompaniment for teachers, school leaders, and lay collaborators who serve our educational institutions.
3. Inclusive Education and Attention to the Peripheries: Develop common responses to new forms of poverty, educational inequalities, and the challenges of access and equity.
4. A Culture of Peace, Dialogue, and Social Commitment: Foster educational initiatives that promote reconciliation, intercultural dialogue, and the building of the common good.

Looking Ahead

We envision this first meeting as the beginning of a shared journey that will give rise to:

• a permanent space for dialogue among international Catholic educational networks;
• working groups dedicated to the four shared priorities;
• collaborative projects at the international level;
• an ongoing exchange of experiences, resources, and best practices;
• a shared narrative that highlights the contribution of Catholic education to today's world.

Religious congregations, educational networks, and ecclesial organizations hold an extraordinary wealth of experience, expertise, and charisms. Bringing this richness into relationship with one another will strengthen our capacity to respond with creativity, shared responsibility, and hope to the profound changes shaping education today.

The time has come to take a further step: to move from a multiplicity of initiatives toward a deeper communion in mission, building on what already exists while opening ourselves to new forms of cooperation.

For this reason, the UISG–USG Education Commission invites the leaders of international Catholic educational networks to join this journey. We are convinced that the Church's educational mission grows stronger when we learn to share our gifts, responsibilities, and vision, together building a true network of networks.

We look forward to beginning this shared journey with you and to continuing to offer future generations an education that inspires hope, fraternity, and a future filled with promise.

UISG–USG Education Commission
Sr. Priscilla Latela, RMI
President