EXTENDED COUNCIL 2026

Behold, I make all things new (Rev 21:5)

The General Council, the leaders and formators of each entity of the Congregation of the Sisters of Christ, met in Paris to participate in the Extended Council 2026. We were able to appreciate how, each year, this meeting brings its novelty to respond to the “signs of today’s times”.

It is a joy to see how the young sisters, whom you have formed and whose commitment to the Congregation you witnessed, are beginning to assume responsibilities within it.

Embraces, looks, words of welcome, a shared joy and enthusiasm to find ourselves at “a point” where Christ is the source of life and unity. It is presence that brings us together.

Intense moments of prayer, assembly sessions, group work, times of silence and personal meditation, reflection and sharing formed an atmosphere that encouraged the sisters to move forward and go further in their reflections.

Moments of relaxation, animation, exchanges of gifts expressing the joy of sharing the culture of one’s country, the celebration of the jubilee of the 25 and 50 years of life consecrated to the Lord of María Elena and Marie-Christine, personal encounters strengthened in another dimension the bonds of fraternal friendship between Sisters of Christ.

The magic of Patrizia, facilitator of the meeting, was able to awaken in the participants the desire to move forward towards the future with hope.

The freedom of speech and respectful listening reflected the trust and interest of each sister to contribute her “grain of sand” to achieve the objectives of the meeting.

There was a spiritual movement and the certainty that the Lord had taken the helm to steer the boat. Who could doubt it? Sisters of different generations, cultures, nationalities and continents who have only been led by the spirit of belonging to a single « Body-Congregation » to go to the Essential. This “Essential,” in motion, which led them from a profound experience of total self-abandonment to the hope of a promising future for the congregation.

I share this experience with gratitude. As a translator, I have witnessed this extended Council and have been able to perceive “the expression of the love that unites us to Christ... and the urgency of participating in the Father’s mission” :

« TO GATHER TOGETHER IN UNITY THE SCATTERED CHILDREN OF GOD (JN 11:52) AND TO INAUGURATE THE NEW CREATION. » (C4)

Sister María Luisa, Community of London

(Original in Spanish)