The yearly meeting of the FMA inter-provincial conference for part of Europe and the Middle East took place in the beautiful city of Bratislava.

The chosen theme for reflection and discussion was Vocations Culture. Present with the provincials were delegates who have an interest and experience of this topic.

An inspiring, challenging presentation by Fr. Igino Biffi SDB opened the topic and, together with two practical experiences presented by the Austrian-German and the Slovenian provinces, provided a platform for thought and discussion.

As well as deepening an awareness and thirst for establishing a vocational culture the participants benefited from the wonderful hospitality of the Slovakian province. They enjoyed a wonderful evening of recreation with performances form the Slovakian Novices and they also got to experience the rich culture of Slovakia through dance presented by a very talented local youth group.

Sunday saw the group visit to national Marian Shrine of Sastin where they were also lunch guests of the Salesians who look after the shrine and Church there. Afterwards, Sr. Arianna took us on a walking tour of Bratislava - it was all very interesting and helped us walk off such a feast!

All this, together with future planning and sharing, made the days fly by leaving much food for thought and a desire to move forward in creating a Vocational Culture.

Sr Anne Frances McNamee