“A synodal Church is one that listens.” These words, spoken by Pope Francis at the opening of the Synod on Synodality, capture the essence of his papacy. From the moment he appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in 2013, Pope Francis invited the Church into a new era – one characterized by deep listening, compassionate accompaniment, and courageous engagement with the world’s struggles. He encouraged us to walk together, not in uniformity, but in communion. As the global Church mourns his passing, we take a moment to honor a shepherd who called us to journey together in hope, with the Gospel in hand and the poor at heart.
In 2014, during the Year of Consecrated Life, Pope Francis called on religious men and women to “wake up the world” with their prophetic witness. He encouraged them to look to the future with creativity and joy, to go out to the margins, and to live with “the grace of being uncomfortable”—a grace that keeps their hearts open to the Spirit and their ministries open to renewal.
He consistently urged catholic sisters to be bold and innovative in responding to today’s complex social challenges. His words were not theoretical but rooted in his deep understanding of the realities facing the Church, especially in the global South. In many of his addresses, Pope Francis called for a new culture of encounter, inclusion, and integral development—values that Catholic sisters worldwide embody in their ministries of education, health care, peacebuilding, and economic empowerment.
Pope Francis’s advocacy for women in the Church, particularly his appointment of women religious to leadership roles in the Vatican, was far from symbolic—it was both pastoral and strategic. Throughout his papacy, he appointed more women to Vatican leadership positions than any of his predecessors, challenging long-standing traditions in a historically male-dominated institution. Sister Raffaella Petrini is a notable example. She became the first woman to serve as secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican City State—the highest-ranking position ever held by a woman in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis further advanced women’s participation by appointing Sister Nathalie Becquart as under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops, making her the first woman with voting rights in the Synod. In 2022, he also named several women to the Dicastery for Bishops, allowing them a voice in the selection of new bishops—an area traditionally reserved for men. Pope Francis recognized that the future of the Church depends on the full inclusion of women, especially those who have committed their lives to God through service.
In this spirit, and inspired by Pope Francis’s vision, the Sisters Blended Value Project (SBVP) aims to strengthen the sustainability of sisters’ ministries while fostering a synodal way of life. SBVP is implemented by Strathmore University Business School in collaboration with the Association of Consecrated Women in Eastern and Central Africa (ACWECA). The project supports sisters in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi to transform their social ministries into sustainable, impact-driven social enterprises. More than just an economic initiative, SBVP encourages Catholic sisters to journey together in hope, discernment, and mutual support. It is one among many responses to Pope Francis’s call to ensure that the consecrated women’s works of mercy are also works of sustainability and long-term dignity.
As the Church prepares to lay him to rest, we remember him as a pope of the margins—a man who preferred bridges to walls, carried the scent of the sheep, and led not from a throne but from the heart. He was a pope who made room at the table for everyone. Pope Francis was a beacon of encouragement to the many consecrated women in the church whose hands quietly heal, teach, feed, and empower. He reminded them, and all of us, that our calling is not just to preserve tradition, but to carry it forward with courage and love.
May his soul rest in eternal peace, and may his legacy live on in every act of justice, every moment of compassion, and every step taken in faith by those he so dearly loved.
“Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of hope!” — Pope Francis.
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Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation foresees a world in which improving the human condition is a shared and sustainable goal. “Love one another, for that is the whole law,” Conrad Hilton wrote in his will. The peoples of the world “deserve to be loved and encouraged—never to be abandoned to wander alone in poverty and darkness.” That is our resolve.
