Rome (Italy). On 9 May 2024, an online meeting was held in which 22 Daughters of Mary Help of Christians called to collaborate in the codification of data collected in the Focus Groups held at the beginning of the year, within the updating of the documents of the FMA Institute, “Plan of Formation” and “Guidelines for the Educational Mission” (LOME).
During the online meeting, attended by the Councilor for Youth Ministry, Sister Runita Borja and Sister Enrica Ottone, Professor of the Pontifical Faculty of Education Science “Auxilium” of Rome, presented to the Sisters the work required of them within the whole process, with objectives, and timelines.
Sister Enrica also showed how to use the MAXQDA software, which supports coding and data analysis. The meeting ended with a time of dialogue.
The work that awaits them involves the analysis of the 2,390 responses collected with a method that will allow the classification of the indications for the revision, the contents to be valued and updated in the documents, the criteria, the experience of using the existing documents, the formation needs of the current context.
The process “Innovating formation and mission” is implemented in response to the mandate of General Chapter XXIV entrusted to the General Council to “update the documents of the Formation Plan of the FMA Institute and the Guidelines of the educational mission” taking into account the changing socio-cultural context, the new formative needs, the emerging educational challenges, and the most recent orientations and documents of the Church (cf. Acts General Chapter XXIV, 38).
It is a participatory process characterized by listening, discernment, involvement, a ‘synodal’ process extended to all the members of the Educating Communities. The various focus groups held at the beginning of 2024, made by about 90 facilitators who reached 690 participants (FMA, young people in formation, lay people, and young people), were concrete expressions of this process. The groups dealt with 8 different tracks of questions.
With gratitude to all the facilitators and to the people who participated in the Focus Groups, the journey will continue with the involvement, in the next stages, of other people, whom we thank for their availability, expression of a strong sense of belonging. The process thus becomes for everyone a transformative experience, generative of life.
