News

As part of the ‘Youth Jubilee’ held in Rome in 2025, the ‘Vocations Apostolate Network’ -UCESM_VAN - promoted a series of meetings between young people and consecrated persons, called ‘MCP_together’: spaces for music (M), conversation (C) and prayer (P), with...

On 20 November, the UCESM Executive Committee went to Rome to have a meeting with the new Prefect of DICLSAL, Sr. Simona Brambilla, with the purpose of introducing themselves and getting acquainted with the new team at the Dicastery. For over an hour, Fr. Janis, Sr....

In many communities, silence is an expression of humility and inner reflection, associated with sacrifice and prayer. But when suffering cannot be named and shared, some injustices remain hidden and cannot be addressed. On 10 October 2025, we met in Munich with a...

From 10 to 12 September 2025, the 29th Renovabis Congress took place in Berlin with the theme: Human dignity: inviolable and vulnerable. Our Secretary General, Sr. Marjolein, was delighted to participate in the plenary sessions and working groups. There were...

The theme of the conference was “Analysing the hidden patterns of spiritual and sexual abuse among Catholic women religious” and was organised by the Faculty of Catholic Theology in Regensburg. There were about 65 participants from all over the world, including...

  On 16 June 2025, we held an online training session on one of the issues of the moment: synodality. It was one of the topics that the National Youth and Vocational Ministry Leaders had requested at one of their assemblies: how to ‘walk together’ in our pastoral...

The Gregorian University hosted the 2025 International Safeguarding Conference. There were more than 250 participants from all continents, from Canada to Papua Nieuw-Guinea, from Australia to Ukraine, from Peru to South Africa. This occasionally caused difficulties in...

Thinking together about affectivity and gender in pastoral care   On 19 March, the UCESM Vocations Apostolate Network (UCESM_VAN) organised a training meeting on ‘Sexuality and gender in our youth and vocational ministry’. The topic had been one of the most...

Some impressions by Sr. Marjolein Bruinen, Secretary General of UCESM, here !  

On the afternoon of 21st November 2024, the 4th Assembly of the UCESM Vocations Apostolate Network (UCESM_VAN) took place. 22 persons attended, including a good number of "National Referents" of vocations ministry linked to 16 Conferences of Major Superiors of men and...

From 13 to 15 November, Sr Marjolein took part in the conference on ‘Protection of Minors in the Church in Europe’ in Rome. There were about 150 participants (bishops, major superiors, religious and laity) from 25 countries, as well as representatives from the Curia,...

It was an exciting 28th International Congress of Renovabis (on 10-12 September in Freising): 220 participants from 26 countries including theologians, sociologists and Church representatives. In the Asam building (and online) we listened to interesting lectures, had...

  On the afternoon of 10th June 2024, an Assembly of the UCESM Vocations Apostolate Network (UCESM_VAN) took place. A total of 29 people participated in this meeting, including a good number of "National Referents" of Vocations Ministry linked to 19 Conferences...

Fr. Anjei Yukhnevich omi, President of the Coordination Group of Consecrated Men and Women of Belarus, who took part in our General Assembly in Vranov (CZ) as a guest, was arrested a few days ago in his own country, along with another Oblate brother. The reason for...

On 29-31 October, the Executive Committee and the General Secretariat of UCESM, arriving from their different locations (Latvia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Belgium), met with Sr. Krista Chládková, President of the Czech KVPŽŘ, and Sr. Vojtěcha Zikešová, Vice-President...

A meeting of the European Vocations Service (EVS), convened by the Council of Bishops' Conferences of Europe (CCEE), was held in Rome from 28 September to 1 October 2023. The meeting brought together around 25 people, mostly 'national vocations directors' and bishops...

The assistant of the Brussels Secretariat, Mrs Nicole Jacqué, attended as a representative of the Executive Committee and the Secretary General of UCESM. Read more (only in German) here.

From 1st till 5th September, the UCESM-President Fr. Jānis MEĻŅIKOVS sj attended the 22nd gathering of the Interconfessional Conference of Religious in Alberga (Sweden). His report can be read here.