Rome, Italy. From 26 to 28 November 2025, the 104ᵗʰ Assembly of the Union of Superiors General gathered in Rome and Sacrofano under the theme “Connected Faith: Living Prayer in the Digital Age.” Over the course of three days, Superiors General explored how prayer, fraternity, and mission can remain rooted and authentic amid rapidly changing digital realities.
The Assembly opened on 26 November with a special audience with Pope Leo XIV in the Synod Hall. Addressing the participants, the Holy Father reaffirmed prayer as the heart of consecrated life, the inner space where trust, gratitude, and openness to God allow Him to heal and transform. He encouraged religious leaders to recognize the digital world as both promise and risk: a fruitful field for evangelization, yet one that must never replace genuine community bonds and the traditional structures of ecclesial communion.
In Sacrofano, the Assembly immersed itself in days of reflection and dialogue. On 27 November, inter-congregational sharing highlighted diverse experiences of prayer today, with contributions from Benedictines, the Fatebenefratelli, and Salesians. In the afternoon, Carlo Casalone, S.J., offered a thought-provoking intervention on artificial intelligence and social media, warning that technology shapes culture and spirituality, and therefore calls for careful and shared discernment.
The final day shifted the focus to ecological commitment and ongoing ecclesial reflection. Representatives of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and experts from the Laudato Si’ Institute guided the participants in reviewing draft guidelines of the document Mutuae Relationes, seeking to integrate care for creation into spiritual and community life. The Assembly concluded with a Eucharistic celebration marking the Feast of Creation.
Throughout the gathering, a shared conviction emerged: digital tools can enrich evangelization and connectivity, yet consecrated life must remain grounded in embodied relationships, communal prayer, and lived mission. As noted by Don Mario Zanotti, Secretary of the USG, digital platforms offer “great possibilities” for outreach, but cannot substitute the formative power of face-to-face encounter, especially for younger members.
The 104ᵗʰ Assembly ultimately invited religious leaders to hold together the new and the enduring, embracing technological opportunities while safeguarding the depth and humanity at the core of consecrated life.
