From March 16 to 20, 2026, the First Meeting of Women in Synodality of the Southern Cone was held in Asunción, Paraguay, organized by the Commission of the Women in the Church and Society Axis (CEPRAP-CELAM), of which Cáritas is an integral part.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the episcopal conferences and other community-based networks, especially with various representatives of the Cáritas del Cono Sur and the presence of Conchita Reyes, regional representative of the Community of Gender Equality.

The meeting became a space of communion and collective discernment where voices from various territories came together under the inspiration of the Samaritan woman. The resulting final document is a prophetic call to build a Church that fully recognizes female dignity and leadership in all its diversity.

"Do not silence what we see and live"

The central message of the meeting is articulated around the denunciation of painful realities and the proposal of a new roadmap for the Christian community:

• Denouncement of violence: The participants strongly condemned the feminicide, human trafficking and the structural, physical and spiritual violence that persists both in society and within the Church itself.
• Ecological justice: The document links the violation of the Earth with violence against women, rejecting extractivist models and the use of agrochemicals that degrade life in communities.
• Protagonism and visibility: An urgent call was made to end racism and invisibility of Afro-descendant, indigenous and peasant women, demanding that they stop being on the periphery of decisions.

Following the complaints, the statement prophetically affirms "The full and diverse dignity of all people: there are no superior identities; the memory of our ancestors; we learn from the indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant communities that life is a common good; and a female leadership that does not compete, but rather harmonizes; that It does not dominate, but serves with the force of tenderness."

We assume synodality as a concrete practice that involves active listening, real participation and shared decision-making. We demand that the synod processes include in an effective and binding way the voice of women, especially those historically marginalized.

A commitment to the future

Finally, the women of the Southern Cone assumed the commitment to return to their territories to strengthen unity and give a voice to those who have been silenced, with the conviction that a Church is possible where everyone has place.

We walk together, with our own voice, towards a Church where everyone has a place.

We invite you to read the full text of the Final Statement to delve deeper into these reflections and commitments. Click on Download file (button below).