Rosario Valdeavellano, Lolin Menendez, Blanca Asensi, Cecile Meijer, Donna Collins

At the end of July, the Society's representative at the United Nations, Cecile Meijer, the person charged with the Society's international webpage, Lolín Menéndez, and the members of the Sophia Commission, Blanca Asensi, Donna Collins and Rosario Valdeavellano, met in Rome. As we reflected together we were aware that our knowledge of the membership and its hopes and desires was still rather limited. However, it was obvious that while the members of the Society are engaged in a wide variety of education, justice, peace and the integrity of creation issues, we are at very different places with regard to interest level, knowledge of particular issues, and how we integrate them in our lives and ministries. Equally obvious is that in an increasingly globalized world we all need to keep educating ourselves with regard to the complex factors that lead to injustice and the abuse of our planet.

Tasks within the mandate of the Sophia Commission include the reactivation of the work begun by the Justice and Peace Commission, the promotion of communication at all levels, and the facilitation of links and networks among RSCJ, our co-workers and colleagues working in similar and/or complementary ministries. During the next two years we must also lay the ground work and begin a process for the re-articulation of our Educational Philosophy and the spirituality that animates it. The facilitation of this process will include the active participation of the NGO office and the Web Team. It is our hope, that through this proposed joint initiative, we will help foster the integration of our various educative ministries.

Many of you have indicated a desire for interactive communication. In an effort to initiate an on-going conversation and respond to the diversity mentioned before, we propose that for the next year we trial two Theme Folders on the Educational Challenges section of the Webpage. Each folder will initially have three topics under the theme. A new topic will be posted every two months. The short paper presented on a topic will simply break open a conversation with the presentation of basic information. We will also invite short theological reflections on each theme. Having announced the themes and topics for the coming year we hope that people will also be prompted to submit relevant articles to other parts of the Educational Challenges section of the Webpage.

If these Theme Folders prove to be a helpful tool it will be possible to add more folders on other themes in the future. While we could name other themes we prefer that they come from the membership. New topics can continue to appear under the original two themes proposed for the coming year. Gradually, in the archive section of Educational Challenges of the webpage, there will be a number of folders containing articles grouped around different themes. We hope that gradually new themes and corresponding topics under these themes will surface through active participation in forums, the sharing of ministry experiences and responding to requests for information.

In addition to Theme Folders and theological reflections appearing on the section “Educational Challenges”, there will also be a forum, which will be protected by a password, allowing people to reflect at greater depth on issues, raise questions, share personal experiences, discover others who feel passionately about the issue, look at ministry implications, suggest action steps, etc. After there has been sufficient time for interaction on the first topic we want your reaction so that we can make necessary modifications.

This new medium of conversation can only be shaped and made effective through participation of the membership. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, not everyone has direct access to the Webpage. Therefore, we encourage each Province to search for an appropriate format to communicate the material to each religious, as well as those co-worker or colleague who wish to join us in the conversation, so that they might participate in and benefit from this shared experience.