Higher Institute for Religious Sciences – Wishbook

In spite of the crisis in vocations in religious life, women religious are still an important part of the Church’s life and mission. Now more than ever, religious women experience a need for a deeper understanding of themselves, their vocation, and the world that they serve.

We are convinced, and experience has shown, that the insights of a well-grounded psychology and the proven tradition of the Catholic spiritual theology are powerful keys for unlocking the evangelizing potential of women religious. Our programs of ongoing formation for women religious are characterized by a dialogue between psychology and spiritual theology.

Our Summer conferences can reach up to 100 participants at a time: publishing our contents not only in Italian but also in English will multiply our impact exponentially. Indeed, many congregations of women religious have adopted English as their official language. By offering both live and written translations of our content, more women and their communities can benefit from the solid formation we provide.

Given the interest and success of the first volume published in 2017 where all the papers and documents presented have been collected, we want to involve Christian philanthropists in establishing a Series of Collected Studies. We already have a backlog of material awaiting publication, and an exciting calendar of new topics scheduled through a 3-year period.

Our titles awaiting publication include: Consecrated life, icon of God’s mercy; Inner peace: psychology and spiritual theology in dialogue; The reasons of the heart: the affections in religious formation; In the footsteps of the beloved disciple: youth, faith, and vocational discernment; Fraternity and friendship.

The generous support of benefactors will be used for the preparation of material, the Simultaneous translation of the live conferences from Italian to English, twice a year, the translation of the written material from Italian to English and the publication of the volumes in the series, twice a year, in Italian and English.

Duration: 3 years

Total cost: € 94,500

For needy students, the bachelor’s and master’s degree in religious studies are a lifeline to new opportunities. In spite of our low tuition, for some, our program is a luxury they cannot afford…but also an opportunity they cannot afford to miss! Many young women, for example, generously follow God’s calls to service and enter into religious life with just a high school education.

Their religious communities struggle to provide them with access to higher education, which has become so commonplace in the Western world. We believe that every religious sister should have access to higher education, so as to be a more effective pastoral agent in today’s world. Our Hopes and Dreams Scholarships, to be implemented progressively over the next three years, will eventually provide this access to higher education to one hundred students on a yearly basis.

The scholarship program will provide needy students with access to higher education and meaningful mission in the Church and society. A small contribution can make an enormous difference. As, for example, with Sisters trained in the philosophical and theological disciplines: they will be better equipped to answer the existential questions as posed by the highly educated men and women who make up the society of today.

Duration: 5 years

Total cost for 30 scholarships: € 144,000

• 30 Bachelor scholarships: € 79,800 (€ 2,660for each scholarship)
• 30 Master scholarships: € 64,200 (€ 2,140 for each scholarship)