Catholic sisters around the world are being encouraged to take a more visible role in the public conversation by sharing the stories of faith, hope, and service that often go unnoticed. At the 2026 SIGNIS World Congress, Church leaders and women religious highlighted the importance of equipping sisters with the tools to communicate the Gospel in today’s rapidly changing media landscape.
According to Vatican News, one of the major themes discussed during the congress was the growing need to amplify the voices of Catholic sisters, particularly those serving in communities affected by poverty, conflict, migration, and other hardships. Speakers emphasized that the Church’s mission of evangelization includes ensuring these stories of faith and charity reach a wider audience.
Sr. Jane Wakahiu, PhD, Associate Vice President of Program Operations and Head of the Catholic Sisters Initiative at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, reflected on communication as a deeply spiritual vocation rather than simply a professional skill.
“Communication, therefore, is not simply the transmission of information. It is woven into God’s relationship with humanity. It creates, reveals, calls, and gives life,” Sr. Wakahiu said, according to Vatican News.
She explained that communication begins with God Himself, pointing to the opening words of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). From that foundation, she encouraged Catholic communicators to see their work as participating in God’s ongoing relationship with humanity.
The congress also highlighted two initiatives designed to strengthen the presence of Catholic sisters in the media: the Pentecost Project, led by the Dicastery for Communication, and Wisdom Calls, a program that connects women religious with commercial media platforms. According to Vatican News, both initiatives provide communication training and opportunities for sisters to share firsthand accounts of their ministries around the world.
Sr. Wakahiu reminded participants that Catholic storytelling must always remain rooted in the mission of the Church rather than personal recognition or publicity.
“For those who engage in Catholic communications, storytelling is never merely about publicity. It is an act of service to the Gospel,” she said, according to Vatican News.
She continued by explaining why authentic storytelling matters, especially during times of global uncertainty.
“It helps people recognize God’s presence in the world and reminds us that even in times of conflict, uncertainty, and suffering, grace continues to unfold quietly, often in places the headlines never reach.”
Another important focus of the congress was how religious sisters are portrayed in today’s media. According to Vatican News, Sr. Nina Krapić, Deputy Director of the Holy See Press Office, urged communicators to move beyond viral or lighthearted portrayals that fail to reflect the full reality of religious life.
Instead, she encouraged greater attention to the daily witness of sisters who serve in hospitals, schools, refugee communities, and among the poor. Their lives, marked by prayer and service, offer powerful testimonies of Christian hope that deserve a place in the public square.
Sr. Krapić also presented the Pentecost Project as a growing international network that equips sisters through professional formation and participatory journalism. According to Vatican News, the initiative enables women religious to tell the stories emerging from the communities they serve while strengthening solidarity with those living on society’s margins.
The discussion at the SIGNIS World Congress underscored a growing recognition that Catholic sisters have an essential role to play in evangelization through modern communications. By sharing authentic stories rooted in faith, service, and hope, they continue the Church’s mission of making Christ present in places the world too often overlooks.
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