Women’s leadership and the preferential option for the poor were the central themes of the Online Missionary Animation Meeting of the Southeast Region of the Conference of Religious of Brazil (CRB), a space for reflection and dialogue on the mission of Consecrated Religious Life in the current context.
The session was led by Sister Michele da Silva, from the Mission Sector, and featured the guidance of Tabata Tesser and Sister Sônia Matos, a religious of the Congregation of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ and vice president of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), who shared her pastoral experience and her perspective from the Amazonian synodal journey.
A mission that listens, accompanies, and transforms
The meeting took the form of a conversation, fostering listening and exchange among religious sisters, religious brothers, and laypeople. In this space, urgent issues such as violence against women, femicide, and the persistent inequalities affecting millions of people in the region were addressed.
The reflections also highlighted the commitment of Consecrated Religious Life to the care of our Common Home, emphasizing the ecological dimension of the mission and the defense of life in all its forms.
Synodality, Spirituality, and Sisterhood
One of the cross-cutting themes was synodality, understood as a path toward a Church that walks alongside the most vulnerable, listening to their voices and discerning in community.
Likewise, spirituality was explored in depth as the foundation of mission, a source of strength and discernment for evangelizing action in complex contexts.
Sisterhood emerged as a key element in the face of violence, proposing the building of support networks among women as a concrete response rooted in faith and community life.
A Church with a prophetic face
Sister Sônia Matos’ participation reaffirms CEAMA’s commitment to a Church that recognizes women’s leadership and, from the Amazon, promotes processes of justice, peace, and integral care.
The meeting concluded by emphasizing that women’s leadership and the option for the poor are not merely lines of reflection, but concrete signs of the Gospel for our time, inviting us to continue building a Church that is more accessible, prophetic, and committed to life.