By Sister Teresia Kathure Murungi, RGS: Director of the Eastern Central Africa Province Mission Development Office in Nairobi and member of the Women Faith Leaders Fellowship (2024–2025).

Integral human development, a central theme in Catholic social teaching, calls us to envision progress as the full flourishing of every person; socially, economically, politically, spiritually, and culturally. As Pope Paul VI emphasized in Populorum Progressio (The Development of Peoples), authentic development must foster the whole person and every person, going far beyond economic growth. This vision resonates deeply with the mission of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, whose charism and principles emphasize dignity, reconciliation, mercy, justice, and compassion.

For Good Shepherd Sisters, development is not an abstract framework but a lived reality expressed through daily accompaniment of women and girls in vulnerable contexts across the world. While the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a valuable global framework, faith-inspired approaches insist on integration and wholeness. They remind us that poverty, gender inequality, violence, and exclusion cannot be tackled in isolation but must be addressed holistically. The SDGs give us a common language; integral human development, grounded in faith, gives us a soul.

Beyond Material Outcomes: Lessons from Experience

In Kajiado County, Kenya, I met young women who had left school due to early marriage, retrogressive cultural practices, or economic hardship. Their material needs were clear: skills training, income generation, and educational opportunities. Yet what struck me most was their diminished sense of worth. Many carried the invisible wounds of rejection and silence.

In response, Good Shepherd programs combined vocational training with counseling, group dialogue, and spiritual accompaniment. This integration reflected the Good Shepherd principle of restoring dignity and nurturing wholeness, as affirmed in the Congregation’s Documentos de Posición (2018). Over time, transformation became evident: one young woman, once quiet and withdrawn, stood before her peers and declared, “I now believe I can be a leader.” Her empowerment was not only economic but also personal, social, and spiritual.

Such stories remind us that true empowerment begins with affirming human dignity. Material progress matters, but without inner renewal, it remains incomplete. Integral human development requires us to see women not as problems to be solved but as persons with inherent worth and leadership potential.

The Distinct Role of Faith Actors

Religious institutions often occupy a unique space of trust in communities. Catholic sisters, through their longstanding presence, are able to reach those whom formal systems overlook or marginalize. This trust enables engagement with sensitive issues such as child marriage, gender-based violence, and human trafficking, areas where purely technical approaches often falter.

In Uganda, we accompany women who have survived human trafficking. While rescue, shelter, and vocational training were vital, they do not suffice for healing. What sustains many survivors is the compassionate presence of sisters who listen, pray, and journey patiently with them. One woman shared, “I am healed not because of the group’s lessons and psychosocial support but because, for the first time, I felt seen as a person."

This illustrates a key Good Shepherd principle: the ministry of presence. Transformation often occurs less through structured interventions than through the gift of accompaniment, rooted in mercy and compassion. Faith actors bring relational capital and moral credibility that extend beyond project cycles. These qualities are not easily quantified but are foundational for sustainable change.

Linking Integral Human Development and the SDGs

The SDGs mobilize global resources and accountability, yet in practice, they are frequently pursued in silos. Faith-inspired approaches resist this fragmentation, reflecting the interconnectedness of human life. Pope Francis, in Laudato Si’ (Praise Be to You), reminds us that social, economic, and ecological dimensions of human dignity are inseparable and must be addressed together.

In Kitale, Kenya, the Good Shepherd Sisters work with rural women farmers. On the surface, the initiative improves agricultural yields and reduces hunger. Yet it also enhances family nutrition, strengthens women’s confidence, fosters solidarity groups, and enables advocacy for land rights. In SDG terms, this intersects with Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Gender Equality (SDG 5), and Peace and Justice (SDG 16). In faith terms, it reflects justice, dignity, and empowerment.

By linking the global with the local and the technical with the spiritual, faith-inspired initiatives prevent fragmentation. They ensure that no aspect of human flourishing – economic, social, cultural, or spiritual – is neglected.

Spiritual Leadership as Empowerment

Empowerment has both external and internal dimensions. External empowerment provides access to resources, education, and opportunities. Internal empowerment enables resilience, self-worth, and a sense of vocation.

In many rural villages, sisters gather women for prayer, storytelling, and reflection. At first glance, these gatherings seem modest. Yet they are transformative. Women who once saw themselves as powerless begin to claim roles as leaders in their families and communities.

The Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd Congregation’s principle that “Una persona vale más que el mundo” animates this work. Spiritual leadership is not about domination but about accompaniment, awakening, and solidarity. Every encounter, no matter how ordinary, is an opportunity to affirm worth and inspire agency. Such moments reveal empowerment not as a project output but as a lived experience of dignity and hope.

Reflections and Lessons

From these experiences, several insights emerge that may guide more inclusive models of progress:

• Holistic empowerment is essential. Economic support without psychosocial healing and spiritual growth remains fragile.

• Human dignity is the foundation. Every initiative must begin by recognizing each person’s inherent worth.

• Presence is transformative. Accompaniment, listening, and solidarity can be as impactful as technical interventions.

• Integration avoids fragmentation. Faith-inspired approaches help link the SDGs to lived realities, ensuring no dimension of life is neglected.

• Women as change agents. Empowering women and girls generates ripple effects that reshape families, communities, and societies.

Conclusión

Integral human development challenges us to reimagine progress not simply as meeting targets but as fostering the holistic flourishing of every person. The Good Shepherd Sisters’ mission demonstrates that empowerment is as much about being as it is about doing, being present, being compassionate, and being hopeful.

Empowering women and girls is not only a development objective but also a spiritual and moral imperative. When their dignity is honored, their voices amplified, and their leadership encouraged, transformation radiates outward, families stabilize, communities strengthen, and societies move closer to justice and peace.

In bridging global frameworks like the SDGs with local realities of faith and community, faith actors contribute something indispensable: a vision of progress that is inclusive, integral, and transformative. This vision ensures that development is not merely about material gain but about the flourishing of the whole person: socially, economically, politically, spiritually, and culturally.

First published in Berkley Forum on September 26, 2025, as part of the Faith-Inspired Development Approaches That Empower Women and Girls, access aquí.