Practical Workshop and Evaluation | Generalate | Facilitated by Sr. Dulcelene Ceccato | 28 September 2026
Around 160 Salvatorian Sisters from different units around the world participated in the fourth and final workshop on intercultural formation on 28 September 2026. Facilitated by Sr. Dulcelene Ceccato of Santa Catarina, Brazil, the session brought to a close a formation journey that began on 21 October 2025. The programme aimed to deepen the Sisters’ understanding of interculturality, strengthen skills for creating inclusive communities, develop ways of managing intercultural conflicts, and encourage reflection on prejudice, stereotypes and racism. During the final session, Sr. Dulcelene revisited important insights from the first workshop, led by Sr. Paula Jordão of Verbum Dei. Sr. Paula had introduced the Sisters to the visible and deeper dimensions of culture, highlighting how values and beliefs influence the way people understand reality and respond to life. As she explained, “We simply act based on internal motivations.”
Sr. Dulcelene invited the Sisters to reflect on how universal values can be expressed differently across cultures. She also connected interculturality with the Salvatorian charism, reminding the Sisters that living interculturally is part of their mission in today’s increasingly interconnected world. The evaluation showed that the formation had already begun to influence community life. Many Sisters spoke of becoming more aware of the cultural realities each person brings to community and of recognising differences as a source of enrichment rather than division. One participant reflected that the meetings had encouraged the Sisters “to listen to one another more, to recognise the uniqueness that each of us carries within, and to avoid prejudice.”
Another highlighted an important challenge: “It is one thing to understand interculturality, quite another to live it.” Participants recognised that interculturality requires daily practice—patience, openness, sensitive listening, respect, dialogue and a willingness to understand another person’s perspective. The experience of meeting Sisters from different countries was also described as a source of joy and communion. “The thought of connecting with the world, and the different faces, gave us much joy,” shared one Sister. Others emphasised that, despite differences of language, culture, age and background, the Sisters are united by one Salvatorian spirit. The participants appreciated the content, methodology and preparation of the facilitators, especially the opportunities for group work, sharing and learning from different cultural contexts. They also offered suggestions for future initiatives, including more time for personal reflection, prayer, practical activities and sharing concrete experiences of intercultural community life. Some suggested greater participation of junior Sisters and opportunities to explore different continental and cultural contexts.
Language was also identified as an important consideration. One Sister suggested making recordings of the sessions available so that participants could pause, replay and translate content when needed: “When we are listening to content in a language that is not our native language, we often need more time to grasp the meaning.” Looking ahead, the Sisters expressed a desire to continue exploring how interculturality can be lived in daily community life and mission, particularly in the context of globalisation, digital communication and the realities facing young people. Several Sisters expressed gratitude to the General Team for initiating the programme and engaging Sisters around the world in sessions that made it possible to see, meet, and share with members from different units. Sr. Barbara Reynolds of the USA suggested making recordings of the sessions available: “When we are listening to content in a language that is not our native language, we often need more time to grasp the meaning—perhaps to watch a YouTube video, so that we could pause and replay it, and translate the content into my own language.” The session concluded with further suggestions and feedback from the Sisters on future initiatives.
The final workshop therefore marked not an ending, but a new step. As one participant expressed it: “We have diversity, but we need to be one.” The journey continues as each Sister seeks to transform what has been learned into daily practice—listening more deeply, welcoming differences, overcoming prejudice and building communities where every person is respected, valued and welcomed.