AT THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

As part of the meetings with VMI member movements to discuss their respective situations, initiatives, and projects, Zoom meetings between Executive Committee members and leaders continued on the following dates:

• June 26, 2025, with Margaret Mugeni, President of Life Ascending Uganda (LAU), who presented her movement's activities, particularly all the arrangements made for volunteer training.

• July 28, 2025, with Catherine Decout, MCR France Delegate for the implementation of the Pastoral Care of the Elderly initiative in the country.

This meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of the progress of the implementation of Pastoral Care of the Elderly in both MCR France and Vida Ascendente Spain, two movements that belong to the VMI European Coordination.

The objective was to compare the approaches of each of the two movements in this area, to see what they can share and how they can collaborate on the issue.

• October 15, 2025, with Ana Maria Vivern de Avendaño, from Rio Cuarto, provisional president of the movement in Argentina following the death of the previously elected president, and Stella from Buenos Aires. Both representatives described the difficulty of resuming the movement's activities after the pandemic and a significant decline in membership, despite some interesting initiatives.
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Meetings also continued with the following movements:

• May 6, 2025, with the Steering Committee of the French MCR in Montmartre, Paris, where VMI presented its origins, development, communication, current operations, and projects to the members present. Jaime presented Vida Ascendente, particularly the work related to the movement's commitment to single and isolated people in Spain.

• June 11, 12, and 13, 2025: Meeting in Chojnice (a city in northwestern Poland) with groups of senior citizens interested in the VMI initiative, and a meeting in Gdansk with Bishop Wiesław Szlachetka, recently appointed delegate of the Polish Bishops' Conference for the pastoral care of the elderly in the country's 45 dioceses.

• September 26, 2025: Meeting with two representatives of the Japanese movement, Japan Chapter, Harumi Kanaya and Miwako Kagata, in Paris.

This trip was a wonderful testimony to their commitment to VMI. They discussed the very difficult situation facing their movement after the pandemic and the difficulty of resuming activities, which are often limited to visits to various foreign Catholic communities in Tokyo. They expressed the desire to share initiatives for the elderly with VMI member movements.

On April 16, May 21, June 25, September 10, and October 15, the Executive Committee met via Zoom for its work.

On May 7 and 8, the Executive Committee met in person in Lisieux (Normandy) for its work.