The nearly 60 delegates were welcomed to the conference site in Itaici, Brazil.
Each conference provided elements for the ambiance outside of the meeting room.
A large poster of the late Dorothy Stang, SNDdeNamur hung in the main meeting room as a reminder of her martyrdom.
The meeting site provided simultaneous translation of the conference proceedings in Spanish, Portuguese, French and English.
The participants used the image of leaven in many of the prayers and rituals throughout the conference as a symbol of their hope for the power for good that religious life has in the world.
Some of the representatives from the Latin American conferences.
Susana Perez Ortega and Arturo Sosa, SJ served as the facilitators of the conference.
The delegates traveled one day into Sao Paulo to visit some of the works done by religious, including an after-school center that serves more than 7000 children and young people a day.
The delegates worked in seven small group on developing mission and vision statements as well as an action plan for the InterAmerican Network.
Prayer services and Eucharistic liturgies that were rich in symbolism and ritual were celebrated each day. Here the delegates participate in a liturgy prepared by LCWR and CMSM.
The closing liturgy began outdoors with the delegates wearing hats as a symbol of their solidarity with a massive two-week march taking place in Brazil to advocate for agrarian reform. Among those marching were 45 women religious.
The penitential rite during the outdoor liturgy included a time to symbolically burn the sins committed by each religious conference.
Representatives of the various conferences presented symbolic gifts at the altar during the closing liturgy.
Ron Witherup, SS, president of CMSM; Christine Vladimiroff, OSB, president of LCWR; and
Alain Ambeault, CSV, president of CRC expressed their gratitude to CLAR and the Brazilian religious conference for hosting the InterAmerican gathering.
Some of the women religious of Brazil who served as the support staff during the conference.
Maris Bolzan of Brazil, Bernie Spitzley of Antilles, and Beatrice Eichten, OSF of the United States participate in a ritual on the closing day.
The LCWR presidency: Beatrice Eichten, OSF; Christine Vladimiroff, OSB; and Constance Phelps, SCL
LCWR board members who participated in the conference: Mary Catherine Rabbitt, SL; Jeanne Bessette, OSF; and Dorothy Jean Beyer, OSB.
LCWR staff members at the conference: Annmarie Sanders, IHM; Carole Shinnick, SSND; and Marie Lucey, OSF
