ROME – SIGNIS has received a 300,000USD grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to support the communication efforts of religious women in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The two-year program, Wisdom Calls, has a highlight of presenting the progress of the program at SIGNIS’ World Congress, to be held Aug. 3-7, 2026 in Kigali, Rwanda.
“This grant will enable SIGNIS to fulfill our mandate and mission to empower women in transforming our cultures in the light of the Gospel by promoting human dignity, peace and reconciliation,” explained Helen Osman, president of SIGNIS.
The program will bring 30 women religious to interact with Catholic communicators who work in secular and church media. The dialogue, networking and development of joint projects will enable the participants and the public to understand the challenges faced by religious sisters in raising public awareness of societal issues and how their orders are addressing these issues.
“While sisters are deeply engaged in vital social and pastoral work, their contributions are often overlooked or misunderstood—particularly by mainstream media,” explained Osman. By partnering with SIGNIS members, who bring expertise in both Catholic and secular media, the important work being accomplished by Catholic sisters will be amplified.
A global network of professionals and digital platforms will guarantee sustainability of the model that will be developed, allowing more religious women and Catholic media professionals to develop long term, mutually beneficial relationships and understandings.
Using a synodal approach, the first encounter of the religious sisters and media professionals will emphasize intentional listening to one another, to understand the challenges and opportunities of developing a newtwork.
The experiences of the religious women will be showcased at SIGNIS’ World Congress in Kigali. SIGNIS, which has member organizations in nearly 90 countries around the world, gathers for its world congress every four years. 2026 will be the first time that SIGNIS Africa is hosting the congress, enabiling approximately 300 journalists, academics, filmmakers and critics, artists and other communication professionals from throughout the world to meet in Rwanda, “the land of a thousand hills,” for a week of immersion in the local culture, networking, sharing of knowledge and celebrating their faith.
Ultimately, the two-year program funded by the Hilton Foundation is intended to create a roadmap for a sustainable model of collaboration that enhances the communication
capacity of women religious communities and contributes meaningfully to the broader mission of the Catholic Church.
International hotelier Conrad N. Hilton established the grantmaking foundation that bears his name in 1944 to help people living in poverty and experiencing disadvantage worldwide. More than 80 years later, the work continues, concentrating on efforts to ensure healthy early childhood development and sustainable livelihoods for youth and refugee populations, support young people transitioning out of foster care, improve access to housing and support services for people experiencing homelessness, identify solutions to safe water access, and lift the work of Catholic sisters. Additionally, following selection by an independent, international jury, the Foundation annually awards the $3 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize to an organization doing extraordinary work to reduce human suffering. The Foundation is one of the world’s largest, with approximately $7.3 billion in assets. It has awarded grants to date totaling more than $3.6 billion worldwide, and nearly $300 million in 2024. Please visit www.hiltonfoundation.org for more information.
SIGNIS is a non-governmental organization with members from more than 90 countries. As the World Catholic Association for Communication, it brings together print, radio, television, cinema, video, media education, and digital communication professionals. It is the only organization of lay media professionals officially recognized by the Holy See and has consultative status with UNESCO, the United Nations and the Council of Europe. SIGNIS was created in November 2001 from the merger of two Catholic organizations addressing media: UNDA and OCIC. At its World Congress in 2017, SIGNIS welcomed former member organizations of the International Catholic Union of the Press (UCIP). Learn more at www.signis.world.