Within the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), a new step is being taken to connect long-standing pastoral and charitable work with a more unified and intentional advocacy mission. Our Congregation is reorganizing itself around human mobility and anti-trafficking, and how this is reshaping our internal networking and formation.
A New Congregational Committee on Human Mobility and Anti-Trafficking
Our Congregational Leadership Team has recently established a new committee dedicated to building a stronger global SSpS network focused on:
- Human mobility, including migrants, refugees, and displaced persons
- Anti-trafficking and related forms of exploitation
To ensure that this initiative reflects the global reality of our Congregation, the General Leadership Team appointed Provincial and Regional Leaders representing each continent. The committee has been tasked with supporting continental leadership efforts to enable more SSpS members to become actively involved in outreach and advocacy related to human mobility and anti-trafficking.
This process has already revealed that many of our sisters are deeply engaged at the grassroots level—accompanying migrants and refugees in parishes, shelters, and border regions; participating in national and international networks such as Talitha Kum; and providing direct services, spiritual accompaniment, and emergency response.
The goal of the new committee is to connect these experiences so that learning, good practices, and strategies can be shared more systematically across countries and regions.
Building a “Network of Networks”
The committee’s vision is a “network of networks.”
Rather than creating an entirely new structure, we seek to connect the many local, national, and international networks in which our sisters are already active. At the same time, we hope to strengthen internal SSpS coordination to make our congregational response more cohesive and impactful.
In practice, this means:
- Identifying who is doing what, where, and with whom
- Encouraging communication among sisters engaged in these ministries
- Linking grassroots experiences with congregational discernment and decision-making
The Asia-Pacific region has already taken an important step by organizing teams focused on training, awareness-raising, and networking across its many Provinces and Regions.
Our hope is that this “network of networks” will help us move from scattered initiatives to a shared, intentional advocacy journey.
Formators and Social Justice: Formation for Mission
Alongside this structural development, we recently held the 6th International Assembly of Formators, during which three full days were dedicated to social justice.
The goal was to help formators embrace JPIC (Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation) as an integral dimension of missionary life and to incorporate it more systematically into formation programs.
With the guidance of Sr. Petronella Boonen, participants reflected on justice, equity, and equality, as well as the many dimensions of conflict, violence, and injustice: intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, cultural, and environmental.
A particularly meaningful part of the workshop was a visit to our community in Mönchengladbach, Germany, where our sisters coordinate the TaK project—a meeting place for marginalized people, including the unemployed, the homeless, the sick, the lonely, and the elderly.
There, formators experienced firsthand the project’s philosophy of “not for, but with” people. Through small workshops and shared encounters, they entered into relationships of mutual dignity and participation rather than simple service delivery.
The response was deeply positive. Many formators expressed a strong desire to see social justice and advocacy more clearly embedded in community life, spirituality, and formation for mission.
Moving from Charity to Advocacy
A recurring theme in our congregational conversations is the call to “move from charity to advocacy.”
This does not mean abandoning direct service. Rather, it means deepening it.
We continue serving migrants, trafficked persons, and vulnerable communities with compassion and professionalism. At the same time, we are learning to use our lived experience and gathered knowledge to:
- Inform public debates and Church reflections
- Support collective advocacy through networks like VIVAT International
- Engage national and international mechanisms that can bring structural change
Many sisters are discovering that their daily pastoral encounters already contain a powerful advocacy dimension—they simply need the tools and spaces to articulate and share it.
Looking Ahead: Strengthening Ties with VIVAT
As we deepen our internal reflection and consolidate our international networking efforts, we see VIVAT International as a crucial partner in bringing grassroots realities into international advocacy spaces, especially at the United Nations.
We hope to strengthen our contribution to VIVAT through more regular sharing, joint initiatives, and active participation in global calls and UN-related events.
For us as SSpS, this is both an exciting and challenging time.
We are grateful for the rich—often hidden—work already being carried out by so many sisters around the world. We are committed to ensuring that this work becomes part of a stronger, more visible global voice for human mobility, anti-trafficking, and social justice.
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