Within the Comboni Missionary Sisters (CMS), the journey of Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) is taking on a more coordinated and advocacy-oriented direction. Our congregation is engaging more intentionally with climate justice processes through our collaboration with VIVAT Brazil and through the participation of a Comboni Sister as a VIVAT co-delegate in the COP30 preparatory process in Belém, Brazil.
This journey is also teaching us an important lesson: communities move at different speeds. Building a culture of advocacy within a global congregation requires patience, accompaniment, and mutual support.
Learning from Belém: COP Processes and VIVAT Brazil
One of our recent highlights was the participation of Sr. Gabriela Lado, CMS, in the COP30 preparatory process in Belém, where she represented VIVAT International alongside Sr. Petronella Boonen, SSpS, of the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters.
For our Sister on the ground, this was a rich learning experience. It provided a deeper understanding of how global climate negotiations function and how international advocacy spaces can connect with the daily realities of vulnerable communities.
It also offered an opportunity to strengthen the link between VIVAT’s global advocacy and local struggles in Brazil, especially through VIVAT Brazil’s active engagement in the lead-up to COP30. Most importantly, it highlighted how grassroots voices and lived realities can and must be brought into high-level climate discussions.
This experience deepened our awareness that mission among vulnerable communities today must also include engagement with global processes that shape their future, such as UN climate negotiations and civil society spaces connected to them.
Building Internal JPIC Networks: A Network of Networks
Within the Comboni Missionary Sisters, we are working to strengthen and systematize JPIC efforts across our provinces. We are developing more structured coordination at both provincial and congregational levels, with the goal of connecting sisters involved in climate justice, migration, anti-trafficking, and other social justice ministries.
This allows us to learn from one another, share resources, and support one another more effectively.
A key insight in this process is the importance of respecting different speeds. Some regions and communities are already deeply engaged in JPIC and advocacy, while others are still in earlier stages and need more formation, support, and accompaniment.
Rather than forcing uniformity, we are choosing to walk together by offering internal support, encouraging collaboration, and sharing practical tools, including updates on VIVAT Global Calls, webinars, campaigns, and UN-related events.
This includes circulating information about VIVAT initiatives, sharing reflection materials and advocacy resources, and encouraging participation in international days connected to our charism and mission.
Supporting One Another in a Shared Vocation
Across our congregation, we recognize that JPIC and advocacy are not optional “add-ons,” but essential expressions of our missionary vocation.
We continue to be involved in grassroots network-building in our provinces, connecting local struggles for climate justice, migrant rights, and the fight against human trafficking with broader Church and civil society networks.
In this journey, VIVAT serves as an important bridge between our local realities and international advocacy spaces, especially at the United Nations.
Our path forward includes deepening internal networking among Comboni Sisters engaged in JPIC, strengthening collaboration with VIVAT Brazil and other national branches, and remaining attentive to global processes—from COP negotiations to fossil fuel transition initiatives—where our collective voice can contribute to justice and transformation.
We know that, in many ways, we are still “a network in the making.” Yet step by step, with the support of VIVAT and our member congregations, we trust that this journey—from charity toward stronger advocacy—will continue to bear fruit for the people and communities we are called to serve.
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