At the beginning of October, sisters and partners-in-mission from the Provinces of Germany, Ireland, Austria/Switzerland/Czech Republic, and Britain gathered in Manchester for a second joint meeting to discuss the possibility of forming a Mid-North European Region; the first having been held in Ireland earlier this year.
The meetings are part of the conversations within the Congregation around the globe on re-structuring our governance to models that are more appropriate to our current realities.
Our facilitator, Jo Kennedy, guided us to look at what we wanted to achieve by becoming a Region and how we could get to know each other better as we walk along this journey of enrichment.
The room was full of energy as we enthusiastically shared and listened to each other in small groups. These conversations bore much fruit, and in our later sharing, it became clear that we have common hopes and concerns about what may lie ahead.
We felt that forming a new region would provide a larger pool for the sharing of ideas, knowledge, skills, and expertise and create a greater sense of unity and support. However, we are also aware that we are all different, having walked different paths, and that we must manage things in different ways.
There was much to talk about, including the fact that there are different legal systems and laws surrounding our charities and finances throughout Europe. This led us to acknowledge that we need business leadership as well as spiritual leadership.
We all agreed that it would be essential for every sister to have a voice in the process—to be involved, consulted, and informed—so that no sister would feel excluded. To ensure this, we agreed that effective communication would be essential at every step of the journey.
We are also aware that over the coming years, our partners-in-mission will play an increasingly involved role. Partner-in-mission Martin Gundert from Germany spoke of the clarity that was achieved on a number of issues: “There seems to be a common understanding of where we want to go and of the importance of the support of mission partners in this journey.”
Jo guided us to share the current realities of our communities and ministries and what the future holds for them, inviting us to reflect on how we can support and care for one another.
In light of how intensely aware we are of the decreasing number of sisters and our capacities, we realized that flexible and creative ways of leadership that take our realities into account are absolutely essential. We must be careful not to simply replicate existing structures and burden new leaders: ‘A rose by any other name is still a rose.’
Province Leader Sr Beatrix Lewe presented new and creative examples of how to achieve this. In her presentation to the group, she demonstrated how the reality of her Province of Austria/Switzerland/Czech Republic led to the formation of the canonical leadership team of Sr. Ethna McDermott from Ireland, Sr. Rosemary Kean from Britain and herself as leader. These three sisters are joined by two partners-in-mission, Ms Ulrike NieB and Mr Frank Vennemann, to form an extended leadership team.
The presentation produced animated group discussions; the feedback included comments such as “Take courage and be creative,” “Do it – take a leap of faith!”, “Don’t be restricted by our Constitutions – we can always find a way,” and “Everything starts with the first step – act now!”.
At the end of the sessions, Sr Ingrid Schimansky, from the Province of Germany, spoke of how happy she was about the progress that had been made: “I now have a much clearer vision and idea of where we are and where we’re going”.
Looking ahead, Sr Enda Gorman from the British Province, spoke about how important it is that we keep the issues raised at the forefront of our minds, “I hope we don’t lose what we have come to realise in these meetings”.
Often throughout these meetings, the words of our foundress, Saint Mary Euphrasia, echoed throughout the room: “Look to new horizons and even beyond.”
