Still in office, our General Secretary, Sr Marjolein, took part in the 2026 General Assembly in Vallendar.
Around 170 abbesses and abbots, general and provincial superiors, and prioresses and priors from religious communities in Germany gathered there.
The DOK, the umbrella organisation for religious communities in Germany, was founded 20 years ago, on 8 June 2006, at the Archabbey of St Ottilien near Munich – as a merger of what were previously three associations of superiors of the orders of sisters, priests and brothers. The General Assembly commemorated this event with a ceremony on 4 May.
In addition to the superiors, numerous guests attended the conference. Among those present was Bishop Dr Stefan Oster SDB and Sr Lioba Rupprecht ISSM, representing the Working Group on Secular Institutes in Germany. From other European countries, Sr Marjolein Bruinen OP, long-standing Secretary General of the Union of European Conferences of Major Superiors (UCESM), Fr Andy Givel SAC, President of the Conference of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Switzerland (KOVOS), and Simon Evers, Secretary General of the Conference of Religious in the Netherlands (KNR) were present.
During part of the annual conference, the working method ‘Conversations in the Spirit’ – ‘Gespräche im heiligen Geist’ – was practised, which had also been at the heart of the work of the last Vatican Synod of Bishops. As participants at the conference reported, this method of communal decision-making is now also being applied in provincial and general chapters of religious communities and is widely perceived as positive.
Finally, on Wednesday, the General Assembly welcomed representatives of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (Tutela Minorum), Dr Agustin Diaz Herrero and Dr Francesco Pappalardo. They presented the work of the organisation founded by Pope Francis in 2014, expressed their appreciation for the DOK’s work in the field of safeguarding, and thanked them for the intensive and fruitful collaboration. The Commission’s aim, Diaz Herrero announced, is for safeguarding to become an integral part of Catholic life in all contexts. In an annual report, which is a key component of the Commission’s work, Diaz Herrero announced that this year’s focus, ‘ ’, would be on religious life as a central dimension of the universal Church. Among other things, the report would feature the DOK as the first national conference of superiors to be included and highlighted for its efforts in prevention and safeguarding. The overall aim is to further strengthen cooperation in the field of child protection.
The general meeting included the regular elections to the Executive Committee (see the news from the Conferences for details).
At the conclusion of its General Assembly in Vallendar, the German Conference of Superiors of Religious Orders recalled its founding 20 years ago and emphasised its role as a driving force in times of change. Topics such as internationalisation, new forms of communal decision-making and increased responsibility in the area of child protection shaped the meeting.