In mid-June, six Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and ten Sisters of St. Basil met online to celebrate their experience of being together, teaching and learning English, that began in 2023. Using Zoom, our sisters from California, St. Louis and Albany met with groups of sisters from Ukraine, Romania, Brazil, Slovakia and Argentina.
Because they came from different countries, the Basilian sisters did not all know one another until they came together in class with two Sisters of St. Joseph. Our sisters worked in pairs to meet twice a week with their students, creating an international, intercultural, intergenerational experience among Catholic sisters of the Byzantine and Latin rites of the Church.
According to the participants, the experience went far beyond language study. In fact, it seemed to image the themes of the Congregational Chapters of the two congregations to be held in July 2025. The Sisters of St. Basil’s chapter theme is “Building Bridges of Hope,” which goes in tandem with our chapter theme of “Moving Always Toward.”
This has been but one special experience of what the future may hold for women religious. Loving our diversity, two charism families have enriched one another, opened new horizons and helped sisters prepare for a global future. Who knows how this will evolve?