Nairobi, 16 July, 2026 / 3:48 PM
Catholic Sisters engaged in legal ministry across Africa have organized a networking conference in Nairobi, Kenya, as they seek to strengthen their collaboration, learning, and professional support.
Convened and hosted by theCatholic Sisters in Legal Profession(CASILEP), the conference, scheduled for July 30–31, will be guided by the theme, “Prophetic Witness of Catholic Sisters in Canon and Civil Matters: Learning, Connecting and Building a Community of Practice for the Common Good.”
In reflections shared with ACI Africa on Thursday, July 16, the Director of CASILEP,Sr. Eutropia Chao Mwakamba, and the Principal Investigator,Sr. Teresiah Mothoni,weighed in on the conference that is funded by theConrad N. Hilton Foundation.
“The conference will be a time for networking, sharing, and talking about issues that concern our beloved Church, the Catholic Church, and also our congregations,” Sr. Chao said in the video released ahead of the event.
The member of theMissionary Sisters of the Precious Blood(CPS) said that CASILEP is honored to host distinguished guests and delegates who serve in various capacities within the Church and institutions.
Over 100 Catholic Sisters in Canon and civil lawyers from across Africa are expected to participate in the two-day workshop, which will also include a delegation from theDicastery for Evangelization(Propaganda Fide) and theInstitutes of Consecrated Life and the Society of Apostolic Life(ICLSAL).
Sr. Jane Wakahiu of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation will give a keynote speech during the conference that will also have delegates from the Holy See, includingBishopLuis Manuel Alí Herrera, the Commission Secretary of thePontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, and two other delegates.
In another video, Sr. Muthoni said that the conference is “a dream come true for us civil and canon lawyers who are religious sisters.”
“It is something that we have longed to do for a long time, but it’s by God’s grace that we got funding from the Hilton Foundation,” she said, adding, “One of the major objectives of this network is to bring together the sisters who have legal minds in canon and civil law.”
The member ofLittle Sisters of St. Francis(LSOSF) described the conference as a networking platform intended to bring together Catholic Sisters practicing canon and civil law from across Africa to exchange experiences and strengthen professional collaboration.
“It is a networking forum where we are coming together to create a platform for sisters in Africa and kind of re-examine what the sisters in other regions of Africa experience as legal practitioners,” said Sr. Muthoni, who is also a member of the Board of Trustees of CASILEP.
She said the forum would provide participants with an opportunity to reflect on legal practice within the Catholic Church, noting that many Sisters in the profession serve in Church-related institutions and regularly encounter legal challenges in the course of their ministry.
“If you look at the composition of the members, you will realize that most of them work in Church-related institutions. So, what are these legal issues that bedevil the Church, especially in the civil sense?” Sr. Muthoni posed, adding that participants look forward to “a networking platform where we shall be able to share our experiences as religious lawyers and probably create a way of dealing with these issues.”
She further said the conference will enable Catholic Sisters from different parts of Africa to know one another, build professional relationships, and gain a deeper understanding of the Church’s expectations regarding legal practice through interactions with delegates from the Holy See.
“More importantly, we have delegates from Rome. We have people coming to join us, and they will give us the actual Church perspective on what the Church expects,” said the Kenyan Catholic Sister who works as Legal Officer at the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi.
According to Sr. Muthoni, the gathering is also an expression of the Church’s Synodal journey, bringing together religious lawyers from diverse geographical and professional backgrounds to foster dialogue and collaboration.
“We are creating that Synodal Church by bringing together people from different backgrounds, in terms of geographical backgrounds and where they practice their law,” she said, adding that such encounters would create “an impetus for future collaboration and future networking for religious lawyers.”
She said CASILEP hopes the conference will identify the major legal issues affecting the mission of Catholic Sisters and contribute to the development of appropriate canonical and civil responses.
“Our major objective in this conference basically is to network,” Sr. Muthoni said. “We are hoping that at the end of this conference we will be able to highlight the major issues affecting the mission of the Sisters.”
She added that the organizers also hope participants will determine “the best approach that we can put across while dealing with these matters, be they canonical or civil.”
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