Dear friends of WUCWO,
We are coming to the end of this year 2025, and, as I look back on all the things we have experienced, I can only be filled with gratitude to all of you and, above all, to Jesus and Mary, who have walked alongside us every day. It has certainly been an intense year, with many challenges, but, above all, it has been a year full of graces for WUCWO.
We are grateful for everything we have experienced together: for the rebranding we have undertaken and for launching a new logo, a new website, a new magazine and a new way of communicating, which is more accessible and in tune with the times we live in. We must also give thanks for the five wonderful Regional Conferences, which have allowed us to encounter one another, put faces to names, listen to each other, share experiences and good practices and discern the specific challenges in each region. This has enabled us to define priorities and, in some cases, develop concrete plans of action for each region, thereby strengthening our communion as a global network of women.
Thank you also for the achievements of the WWO, the webinars, campaigns, meetings, messages, and so many—so very many—activities that may not always be visible, but which are already paving the way for the coming year. All of these are the results of the generous and faithful commitment of so many women who, from very different backgrounds, support and nurture the growth of this great organisation.
This year has also been marked by very significant moments for the universal Church. We have experienced the departure to the Father’s house of our beloved Pope Francis, whom we continue to commend with gratitude for his life and service, as well as the election of the new Pope Leo XIV, for whom we pray with confidence, asking the Holy Spirit to accompany and guide him in his mission.
We also close this jubilee year, the Jubilee of Hope, a time of grace that has reminded us that Christian hope is not fleeting, but a firm hope that is born and sustained in Christ. May what we have experienced in this Jubilee continue to inspire our journey as women of faith, also in the times to come!
Now Christmas is coming. And at this very special time, I would like every woman in WUCWO to imagine ourselves as a shepherd walking towards Bethlehem to bring a small gift to the Child Jesus. What will each of us bring?
Perhaps those who have joined the #WUCWOPlantingHope campaign can offer Him those planted trees, concrete signs of hope, care for creation and confidence in the future. Those who are training as missionaries of synodality can place this valuable mission in His hands, asking Him to purify and strengthen it. Others may offer Him their closeness, listening and support to the most vulnerable women, such as migrants and refugees, victims of violence, etc. Finally, I know that many will be able to offer their time, prayer, daily dedication, their weariness and also their joys, lived in silence and with love, in their in their organisations and communities.
And along with what we offer, let us also think about what we ask of the Child Jesus for the year ahead. Personally, I ask him, above all, that we never lose sight of the essence nor the guiding light of WUCWO: may it always be the Lord who guides our steps, our decisions and our processes. I ask him that we continue to be women of deep faith, leaders committed to the Church and to the world, capable of uniting contemplation and action, and of working corresponsibly, hand by hand, together with all the People of God.
I also ask that everything we undertake — projects, campaigns, meetings, formation processes — always be for the Greater Good, and not for ourselves; that we know how to discern with humility, walk together in a synodal spirit, and allow ourselves to be surprised by the Holy Spirit, even when the paths are not what we had imagined.
We ask Him to grant us a heart attentive to the most vulnerable women, courage to speak out against violence and injustice, wisdom to promote the necessary changes, and tenderness to accompany those who suffer, with closeness and compassion. May He grant us unity in diversity, patience in the processes, and firm hope, even in the midst of difficulties. We are united in prayer!
May this Christmas renew us from within and help us begin the new year with a simpler, more incarnated and more confident faith, like that of the shepherds who, without great certainty, set out on their journey to Bethlehem.
I wish you, with all my heart, a very Merry Christmas and the best for the coming year. May the Child Jesus fill you and your families with the love and hope that He came to bring into the world, and may Mary, Queen of Peace and patroness of WUCWO, fill us with inner peace.
With all my love,
Monica Santamarina
President General
