The Provincial Councils of the Slavic Provinces meet every three years. This time, their meeting took place in Slovakia, at the Provincial House in Nitra, from October 6 to 11, 2025. On this occasion, Father José Antonio Gonzalez Prieto, Director General, and Sister Isel Negrelli, General Treasurer, who were visiting Slovakia for the first time, as well as Sister Hanna Cybula, General Councillor for the Slavic countries, were present.
A total of 45 members of the Provincial Councils participated in this meeting, including the Treasurers, Secretaries and Provincial Directors of the three Polish Provinces – Warsaw, Krakow and Chelmno-Poznan – of the new Province of St. Catherine Labouré – South-Eastern Europe (former Province of Slovenia and Region of Albania) and the Province of Slovakia.
The themes of the conferences, reflections, group work, sharing and exchanges took into account the proposals and suggestions sent in advance by the Provincial Councils. They are concerned with charism and vocation, accompaniment and formation, community life, poverty, the protection of minors and vulnerable persons, the digital world, service and collaboration. Sister Françoise Petit, Superioress General, addressed the participants via video message. In addition to those of Father José Antonio, Sister Isel and Sister Hanna, presentations were given by other participants from different provinces.
The carefully prepared liturgy in five languages punctuated the rich programme, as did a recreational evening and a pantomime about the newly beatified Janko Havlík, presented by the Marian Youth Association of Slovakia.
The programme also included a jubilee pilgrimage to St. Emmeram’s Cathedral and a short walk in nature to the cave of St. Andrew Svorad, one of the patron saints of the city of Nitra.
Before and after the meeting of the Provincial Councils, our guests from the Mother House visited three small communities of the Province of Slovakia, committed to serving the poor in spiritual and existential peripheries.
On 6 October, Father José Antonio Gonzalez gave a talk on hope to a large community of elderly and sick Sisters, which was also attended by Sisters from the surrounding area. On Sunday, 12 October, he gave a conference for other Sisters of the Province gathered at the Provincial House.
All the participants in the meeting of the Provincial Councils expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to get to know each other better and to reflect together on important aspects of the life of the Daughters of Charity.
