Charismatic Families in Dialogue: Co-responsibility and Participation in the Service of the Charism
Report on the Meeting of 13 June 2026
Casa La Salle, Rome
Around seventy representatives of twenty-nine Charismatic Families met on 13 June at Casa La Salle in Rome to reflect on the theme of co-responsibility between consecrated persons and lay people in safeguarding and transmitting the charism. It was a day of dialogue, listening and discernment, forming part of the Church's broader synodal journey.
Co-responsibility in the life of Charismatic Families is not merely an organisational matter, but an essential dimension of fidelity to the gift received. This conviction guided the meeting "Co-responsibility and Participation: Equal Dignity in the Service of the Charism", promoted by the Charismatic Families in Dialogue Association and held on 13 June at Casa La Salle in Rome. The event brought together around seventy representatives of twenty-nine Charismatic Families, united by a desire to deepen the value of communion between consecrated persons and lay people and to identify shared paths for safeguarding the charism and enabling it to bear fruit today.
The reflection was led by Eva Gullo and Alberto Frassineti, members of the Focolare Movement who have long been involved in accompanying religious institutes, communities and other ecclesial realities. Their presentation offered a comprehensive approach to the theme, structured around four key concepts: charism, equal dignity, co-responsibility and participation. This journey invites us to recognise the charism as the original gift to be safeguarded and transmitted; equal baptismal dignity as the foundation of relationships; co-responsibility as a shift from "doing for" to "deciding with"; and participation as the genuine possibility of taking part in processes of discernment and governance.
Among the most significant images proposed by the speakers was that of the transition from "following" the founder to the "communion of disciples". During the founder's lifetime, he or she naturally serves as the point of reference; afterwards, however, the charism is not entrusted to a single individual but to the entire community of disciples, called to safeguard it and creatively interpret it in the new circumstances of history. For this reason, the charism cannot be regarded as a heritage to be jealously preserved, but rather as a living gift that grows when it is shared and continues to generate life in the Church and in the world.
Particularly significant was the presence of Fr Mario Zanotti, OSB Cam., Secretary General of the USG, who, in his greeting, recognised in the Charismatic Families an authentic prophetic experience for consecrated life. Referring to the work of the recent USG Assembly dedicated to the transmission of the charism in the service of governance, Fr Zanotti observed that consecrated life will have no future unless the charism increasingly becomes a shared charism, emphasising that the gift of the Spirit is greater than individual institutions and continues to manifest itself in ever new forms.
The day was also enriched by greetings from Sr Mary John Kudiyiruppil, SSpS, Deputy Executive Secretary of the UISG, and Rosalba Rossi-Comi, Official of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, as well as by messages sent by, among others, Bishop Hanna Alwan, Maronite Patriarchal Vicar, and Sr Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, Undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod. All highlighted the ecclesial value of the journey undertaken by the Charismatic Families as a concrete expression of an increasingly synodal Church, in which the diversity of vocations becomes a shared richness.
The ample time devoted to group work enabled participants to exchange views on the challenges facing Charismatic Families today. A strong need emerged to foster increasingly authentic relationships between consecrated persons and lay people, encourage processes of mutual listening, share good practices and create opportunities for common formation. Among the images most frequently evoked in the groups were those of the mosaic, in which each person contributes their own piece to the common work, and the building site, where everyone is called to build their own section of the wall in creative fidelity to the charism.
The meeting concluded by reaffirming that the future of Charismatic Families depends on an increasingly mature communion, in which co-responsibility and participation are not simply organisational approaches but become the way in which consecrated persons and lay people, in the equal dignity conferred by Baptism, are called to safeguard, embody and transmit the charism amid the challenges of the present time. This horizon resonates deeply with the journey that consecrated life is undertaking today and with the reflections that have recently emerged from the Assembly of the Union of Superiors General.