General Assembly 2024

The 21st General Assembly of UCESM will take place from 15 to 20 April 2024 in the beautiful, newly renovated and very welcoming Convent of the Minim Fathers in Vranov (CZ), 16 km from the city of Brno.
The topic chosen this year will be

Religious life: identity and future – facing the challenges of today

The topic originates from the last General Assembly of 2022 in the Netherlands, where the focus was put on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of and for religious life. Our preparations for the Synod of Bishops on “synodality” have also inspired us to consider this challenging and stimulating theme. We see our charism and mission – that is, our identity – as our strength, our vulnerabilities as a weakness and a threat, and the involvement of and links with the laity as an opportunity for us.
Some renowned speakers will provide participants with their inputs and points of view, and will be ready to exchange ideas with us, to provoke the thinking process:
– Fr. Lukáš Fošum op, Fr. František Hylmar sj and Sr. Denisa Červenková cstf (CZ) will give an introduction and then exchange views on identity, starting from the situation of the religious in the Czech Republic
– Friar Philip Pinto cfc (IND) will speak (via zoom) about vulnerabilities in our religious life
– Fr. Luis Manuel Suárez cmf (ES) will give an overview of the steps taken by the Vocations Apostolate Network (VAN) for which he is responsible for UCESM
– Sr. Nathalie Becquart xmcj (F) will address the important aspect of synodality: the involvement of lay people in religious life and the relationship of religious with them.

Conference languages are English, Italian and French with simultaneous translation.
We look forward to many international encounters!