As membership in institutes of women religious in the United States grows increasingly diverse, the work of learning to respect and appreciate the differences becomes ever more important.
The recording below is from a session offered by LCWR on December 12, 2023 and included input and reflections from six panelists: Barbara Beasley, RGS; Ivette Diaz, RSM; Xiomara Méndez Hernández, OP; Mūmbi Kīgūtha, CPPS; Elizabeth Ann Guerrero, MCDP; and Mila Diaz Solano, OP.
Those serving in leadership addressed the following questions:
- How do you understand leadership from your cultural perspective?
- What gifts has your understanding brought to your team? What challenges has your team faced because of different understandings of leadership?
- What have you learned as you have worked through differences in understanding leadership with your team?
Panelists who are members of a religious institute spoke to:
- What has been most helpful for you in your own religious institute as you journey on this path toward towards becoming an intercultural community?
- What obstacles have you encountered on this path and what ways have you found to work through these obstacles?
- How do you see religious life changing through our efforts to become intercultural?