On October 4, 2025, KALÁSZ (the Association of Catholic Women and Girls in Hungary) held its third training session for new Catholic women’s group leaders, based on a handbook specially developed by the organisation. The session, held in Budapest, provided an enriching day of formation, exchange, and encouragement, with participants sharing their experiences and discovering new ways to live their leadership. This initiative is part of KALÁSZ’s mission to train and support women leaders who, in turn, establish new Catholic women’s communities in parishes across Hungary—building hope and leadership for the future.
Borbala Csehne Vadnai, Regional Vice-President for Europe, explains this training to us:
“Our organisation, KALÁSZ, is built on small women’s groups that meet regularly in their parishes or local communities. We currently have around thirty active groups across Hungary and even beyond its borders. Like many other Catholic women’s organisations worldwide, we face the challenge of an aging membership and the difficulty of renewal and attracting younger generations.
In response, KALÁSZ has developed a clear strategy: we continuously seek women who feel called to start new small groups for women in their parish or neighborhood. Those who respond to this call are offered comprehensive training, equipping them with both theoretical and practical knowledge so they can confidently found and lead their own groups. The program follows a handbook developed by our team, and the training sessions alternate between in-person meetings in Budapest and online courses—each format offering its own advantages and challenges.
As a result of these training sessions, new groups are emerging throughout the country. Some participants are ready to launch their communities immediately after completing the course, while others take more time to reflect, and months later we joyfully hear of a new group being born. Our support does not end with the training itself: we hold regular online mentoring meetings where new leaders can share their experiences, joys, and struggles, and find encouragement in one another.
The mission of KALÁSZ is to provide community and ongoing formation for Catholic women leaders. The training is free of charge, though participation requires adherence to the Catholic faith. The atmosphere of our sessions is always uplifting and friendly. Participants especially appreciate the shared prayer, the practical advice, the encouragement, the action-planning exercises, and the cheerful spirit that fills our time together—along with the delicious lunch we share. My favorite feedback came from a participant who said she left with a deep conviction: “It is truly good to be a woman!””.
