Nearly 300 sisters under 65 from six continents gathered in Rome for a powerful global experience of global sisterhood called HOPE 2025 from June 3-7. According to Global Sisters Report, the gathering, which was organized by the Leadership Collaborative for Catholic sisters under the age of 65, was part retreat, part networking event, part guided prayer and part space for connection.

Sister Connie Kelly, OP attended in-person and was moved by the experience. She noted that the room held sisters from their twenties to their sixties, and she was an older participant. The sisters present represented 149 congregations in 45 countries.

A focus for Sister Connie was interconnection, meaning “how we’re already connected how we can become more connected.”

“Everyone shared deeply from themselves, from their own experiences,” she said. “How do we move forward? How do we become leaders, not just congregational leaders, but leaders in the world, ministries, parishes, etc.”

In addition to discussing these questions, time during the gathering was delegated to both celebration and lamentation. There was space to mourn and let go of people who are no longer with us and ministries that no longer exist.

Precious Blood Sr. Mumbi Kigutha led the session on lamenting. She told Global Sisters Report: “We fix everyone else, but we don’t take time to fix ourselves. It’s so easy to say, ‘Oh my God, my needs are not as serious — here’s a family that doesn’t have a bed and hasn’t eaten,’ ” she said. “That’s why community is so important. You can tell others, ‘I had a bad day. I’m suffering.'”

Now, she said, despite being from different charisms, different cultures and different continents, the sisters who took part have another community they can lean on.

Adrian Dominican Sr. Xiomara Méndez-Hernández agreed that the gathering was “about the collective. Something new was coming out in front of us.”

“It was beyond expectations,” she told Global Sisters Report. “We created an oasis for us to gather in to be with one another in a deep way, so we can go out into the world and give of ourselves authentically.”

For Sister Connie, the gathering spurred hope. She wants to attend the next gathering –date TBA—as long as she’s still under 65 when it’s held. Until then, she’s holding onto her connections and her support of the younger sisters who were present.

“I’m hopeful that religious life will continue,” she said. “I know it won’t continue as it has been. It gets me excited to see young people who are choosing religious life.”