Over 250 leaders and vocational pastoral directors joined, both in person and online, the workshop “God’s Call Is Everywhere: Listening and Responding in Today’s World” organized by the UISG on March 11, 2024.

The event was built around the newly published book “God’s Call Is Everywhere. A Global Analysis of Contemporary Religious Vocations for Women” - the first comparative analysis of research in six countries investigating women who have entered vowed religious life in Catholicism in the twenty-first century. The data include survey responses from institute leaders, formation directors, and the women themselves, conducted in the United States, Canada, Australia, and France, along with focus groups and interviews in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and France. As highlighted by one of the authors of the book, Sr. Gemma Simmonds, CJ, the publication is a very useful tool particularly for the sisters in leadership and formation positions, to deepen reflection on how to foster and nurture new vocations.

Later on, Mary L. Gautier, retired senior research associate at CARA, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University,  the quantitative data included in the book, helping to notice the commonalities between the religious vocations: what attracted people to religious life, to their particular institute, which life experiences they had before joining religious life. Her presentation was complimented by sr. Bibiana Ngundo, Luis F. F. Fernando Falco and sr. Metti Amirtham, who led a segment “Experiences from the Global South” and presented the survey results conducted in countries in Africa, South America and Asia, giving participants a wide perspective on the hopes and concerns of those discerning a vocation to religious life across the globe.

The book “God’s Call Is Everywhere. A Global Analysis of Contemporary Religious Vocations for Women” can be purchased at the UISG Headquarters (Piazza di Ponte Sant’Angelo 28, Rome) for a 20 euros donation or online, following this link.

•    Photo gallery of the event
•    Watch the video recording of the workshop: