Missionary sisters from nine countries across Asia gathered in Bangkok, Thailand, from May 8 to 9 for a two-day intensive training on media and communication.
(By Mark Saludes – Licas News). SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication, brought together 12 religious women from various congregations for an intensive workshop aimed at exploring how to share their mission and stories with a broader and increasingly secular audience.
Titled “Wisdom Calls: Sharing the Mission to the World,” the initiative marked the first leg of SIGNIS’ global program supporting the communication efforts of religious women in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Peter Rachada Monthienvichienchai, secretary general of SIGNIS World, said the program aims to support the missions of religious sisters by leveraging SIGNIS’ global network of Catholic communicators working in secular media.
He said the “work and sacrifices” of missionary sisters are often “underrepresented or misrepresented” in mainstream media.
“Through fostering communion and genuine connections between religious sisters and secular media professionals, we hope to proclaim peace and nourish Christian hope in an otherwise crowded and divisive media space,” he said.
SIGNIS invited media professionals to discuss newsroom practices, the types of stories mainstream media pursue, and the ways journalists approach storytelling.
Martino Tan, managing editor of Mothership.sg, led sessions on how media organizations shape narratives and present stories to wider audiences, while Panu Wongcha-um, Thailand and Indochina senior correspondent for Reuters and president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, shared insights on international reporting and newsroom practices from the perspective of global media.
This author, managing editor of LiCAS.news and contributor to The Christian Science Monitor, also facilitated a session on faith-based solutions journalism and storytelling approaches focused on marginalized communities.
Augustine Anthuvan, a veteran journalist from Singapore, and Adeline James of SIGNIS Asia led the workshop sessions, guiding the religious women on how to develop story ideas and turn them into pitches for global media organizations.
In her keynote message, Sister Nina Benedikta Krapić, MVZ, deputy director of the Holy See Press Office, told participants that religious women hold a powerful but “often unused communication potential in the Church” because of their deep relationship with the communities they serve.
“We need faces and voices to speak for people again. And I deeply believe that religious sisters can do that,” she said, adding, “What is said and written about us is often reduced to stereotyping and misrepresentation because we are too often reactive rather than proactive.”
Organizers said the initiative aims to document community-centered communication practices, amplify local voices in shaping media strategies, and contribute insights to the SIGNIS World Congress 2026 scheduled from Aug. 3 to 8 in Kigali, Rwanda.
The project and its lessons will be presented during the global gathering, with participants encouraged to develop similar collaborations in their own regions.
Sister Ganga Rawat, SSpS, of India, one of the participants, said the “fruitful and insightful” communication workshop would help those involved in the common mission reach “needful communities with love and compassion.”
Sister Helen Ann Palacay, FMIJ, executive secretary of the Commission on Mutual Relations Between Consecrated Persons and Bishops of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said the “learnings, insights, and experiences we gained throughout the seminar were truly valuable and inspiring for our mission and ministry.”
“I am also grateful for the fun, friendship, and camaraderie we shared as a group, which made the experience even more meaningful and memorable,” she added.
Sister Mary Catherine Hop Pham, FMSR, of Vietnam, described the workshop as “such a gift,” adding that participants “feel so blessed to have spent time” with fellow communicators dedicated to amplifying the voices of the marginalized and vulnerable.
During the pitching sessions, participants presented stories from their respective communities that covered social justice, human rights, education, health, women’s rights, Indigenous peoples, the environment, and religious vocation and formation.
SIGNIS will tap communication experts to guide and assist the sisters in developing the stories once they return to their countries and help pitch them to media organizations locally and globally.
Some of the stories developed through the workshop will be presented during the SIGNIS World Congress 2026 in Kigali, Rwanda, in August.
The SIGNIS workshop was held at the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) Secretariat Office in Bangkok, Thailand.
All photos by Mark Saludes and Jacqueline Maulas
