The International Economic Commission of the Daughters of Jesus met at St Katherine’s, London from the 30th July to the 5th August, 2017. It was an occasion to both reflect on the mission confided to the Commission, and to evaluate the two previous years.

The biyearly meetings of the Commission, which take place in a different country each time, are very much appreciated. They are a great opportunity to reflect on the mission confided to us and to evaluate the two years since the last meeting :

• The projects we have supported
• The finanical report of the International Solidarity Fund
• The perspectives for the future
  

  Groupe CEI

• How the Commission functions
• Potential projects

This year we took the inspiration for our reflection from the message of Pope Francis to the participants at the 2016 Symposium « Rethinking the economy in fidelity to the charism », and from the texts of a 2017 session on « Economic management at the service of Mission ».

We asked ourselves where our solidarities lie and what our approach is to an economy that should always be at the service of people. In the societies in which we live we receive numerous requests for aid. Fidelity to the Gospel imperative of piverts demands constant vigilance so as not to enter into a circle of corruption in all its various forms.

More and more lay people take part in our financial management. This obliges us to specify and formalize their roles and responsibilites. So that they can be at ease in the mission that we have confided to them, we also have to give them opportunities to understand the meaning of their service over and above the technical help and competence that they bring to us.

The final evaluation of these few days of reflection witness to the importance of these meetings.

• « You can feel the life in the Congregation. »
• « It opens us up to our internationality. »
• « We take the time to study the projects together, it’s more in depth and easier when we are together. »
• « All of the prospective projects are studied with the same seriousness ; if we can’t give a positive response, we don’t stop being interested in the project. We try to envisage alternative solutions. »

The conviviality of the meetings and the simplicity of the exchanges make these sessions important moments of fraternity and life in the Congregation.