Ignatian Women Who Inspire Us (2026)
(Material prepared and adapted by the Office of Ignatian Spirituality, USA East Province of the Society of Jesus.)
By Zandra Schiemann
Continuing our series from last year, this March, Women’s Month, we continue honoring three of the many Ignatian women whose leadership and service inspire us.
Their commitment to a synodal Church, the formation of Ignatian leaders, and the promotion of the Spiritual Exercises —together with their work alongside the most vulnerable and their care for our Common Home— makes them true references for our mission.
Join us in discovering their stories.
Visit this page each week in March to learn more about their ministries and Ignatian charism. Leer en español.
This series is presented by OIS’s Ministerio Hispano Ignaciano. Click here to learn more about our Ignatian Hispanic Ministry.
Hope Has a Woman’s Face: A Prophetic Look at the Church Today. Interview with María Lía Zervino
María Lía Zervino offers us a profound and hope-filled look at today’s Church. Drawing from her experience accompanying so many “invisible disciples,” she shows how women —in silence, on the peripheries, and in everyday life— sustain the mission with a beauty that recalls Mary’s presence at the foot of the cross.
With a deeply Ignatian heart, Dr. Zervino invites us to recognize, give thanks for, and amplify the voices of these women who embody the tenderness, mercy, and fidelity the Church needs to move toward true synodality. Her testimony calls us to transform our relationships and reminds us that hope has a woman’s face.
The full interview is worth reading: it is luminous, realistic, and deeply spiritual. It leaves you wanting more and eager to keep walking forward.
You can read it in English: Hope Has a Woman’s Face: A Prophetic Look at the Church Today | Interview with María Lía Zervino and in Spanish: La esperanza tiene rostro femenino: una mirada profética sobre la Iglesia actual | Entrevista a Mar.
We invite you to keep visiting this section and discover other Ignatian women who inspire us through their ministries and their charism.