ACWECA Holds Mid-Life Formation Workshop for Consecrated Women in Ethiopia

The Association of Consecrated Women in Eastern and Central Africa (ACWECA) has officially launched a five-day Mid-Life Formation Workshop for Consecrated Women at the Mojo Consolata Spiritual Center in Ethiopia. The workshop has brought together more than 40 religious sisters representing over 18 congregations from across the country, marking a significant moment of renewal and collaboration within consecrated life in Ethiopia.

Organized by ACWECA in close collaboration with the Association of Consecrated Women in Ethiopia (ACWET), the program is part of ACWECA’s ongoing commitment to initial and ongoing formation of consecrated women in the region. The workshop responds specifically to the needs and challenges faced by women religious in mid-life, offering a dedicated space for reflection, healing, learning, and recommitment to vocation and mission.

The formation program is grounded in a holistic and transformative approach, addressing the spiritual, emotional, psychological, and intellectual dimensions of religious life. Through conferences, group discussions, prayer, and shared reflection, participants are encouraged to deepen self-awareness, reconnect with their call, and rediscover meaning and vitality in their consecrated commitment.

Facilitators from across the region, including Sr. Christine Wairimu Mwangi and Sr. Grace Yangi Dilla Jaber, underscore regional solidarity and shared learning.

The workshop program covers a range of timely and relevant topics impacting consecrated life today. Sessions include reflections on homelessness, understood both as a social reality and a pastoral concern, as well as discussions on the mission and global concerns of consecrated life in a rapidly changing world. Other key focus areas include mental health and emotional well-being in religious life, emotional intelligence and stress management, and revitalizing the identity of consecrated women amid evolving social, ecclesial, and cultural contexts.

The representatives have gathered from different parts of Ethiopia, representing diverse cultures and even nationalities helping to discuss the challenges of mission in a diverse culture.

Speaking about the vision of the program, Sr. Getenesh MC, President of ACWET, emphasized that the workshop seeks to go beyond academic input to touch the whole person. “The guiding vision of the program is transformative and holistic formation for authentic living, leading to deeper evangelization,” she said. “It seeks to nurture the whole person spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually so that consecrated women may live their vocation with renewed zeal, freedom, and purpose.”

At the national level, ACWET, officially launched inFebruary 2024 in Addis Ababa, continues to grow as a vibrant expression of unity among consecrated women in Ethiopia. As part of the wider ACWECA family, ACWET benefits from regional collaboration, shared resources, and collective reflection on the future of consecrated life in Africa.

The gathering is widely seen as a time of grace, renewal, and strengthening of vocation, with hopes that its fruits will extend beyond the participants themselves to their communities, ministries, and the wider mission of the Church in Ethiopia and beyond.