Hope And Life For All: Ursuline Nuns Swear By Prophetic Leadership

BANGALORE, Aug. 20, 2009, 15.10 Hrs (SAR News):

The Ursuline sisters attending the 64th General Chapter of their congregation here felt that a prophetic response to the challenges must lead them to evolve a new spirituality that generates hope and life for all.

They chapter, which began August 1 and will last till August 25 at Nivedita in Bangalore, has 30 participants representing the Ursuline missions in Africa, Brazil, Italy and all over India.

Superior General of the Institute of Ursulines of Mary Immaculate of Piacenza, Sister Bernardina Poonthottam, gave a call to the members of the chapter to be conscious of their being followers of Christ, to imitate Him and be truly servants of one another, ready to bend down – leaving their exalted positions of safety and comfort – to help the needy, the neglected and the abandoned, whether in the community or in their apostolate.

Quoting Church documents, she said that in a world where the sense of God’s presence was diminishing, the future of humanity lay in the hands of those who were strong enough to provide the coming generations reasons for living and hoping.

This could be done by the sisters’ personal presence and accompaniment with the people – showing solidarity in crisis and suffering, guiding in times of doubt and confusion, supporting, encouraging and building up communities. Then they would become persons of hope where those who were victimised and brutalised could find a safe and secure haven, she said.

Emphasising on the prophetic character of consecrated life, Sister Poonthottam said their primary mission was to be prophets of holiness. It was the quality of religious life that was meant to be prophetic in the first place along with the quality of their activities, she added.

The Institute of Ursulines of Mary Immaculate of Piacenza was founded by Blessed Brigida Morello of Jesus, beatified by Pope John Paul II, March 15,1998. Brigida and her five companions were helped by the Jesuits to form a strong group of women with Christo-centric spirituality, pointing to Christ as the only way to holiness.

“In our foundress Blessed Brigida of Jesus, we see these prophetic dimensions and in the way she responded to the signs of her times,” Sister Poonthottam told SAR News.

Sister Brigida was attentive to the movements of the Spirit and attuned to the signs of her times and that made her partner with God in taking up the cause of the needy, she added.

Former provincial of the Italian Province, Sister Elena Siccotti, who participated in the Chapter, said she had a very satisfying experience. “I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit guiding us to express ourselves in an atmosphere of unity and faith to discover newer dimensions of our service to the people in loyalty to the Church,” she said.

Four other Italians attending the Chapter, too, were impressed by the way the exercise was carried out under the guidance of Jesuit Father Lisbert D’Souza, the general counsellor, who had flown in from Rome to be the facilitator.

The sisters felt that they should be engaged in an ongoing dialogue between the Word of God and life, the heart of their commitment.

The participants agreed that to encourage a vision of the Church as a communion, there should be a partnership with the laity. They also worked out the modalities of forming groups of Friends of Brigida as their collaborators in the mission of evangelisation.

The congregation also plans to celebrate the 400 years of its foundation in Italy and the 75th anniversary of its missions in India.

With some 800 members working in 102 institutions all over the world, the Ursuline congregation has a Servant of God in Sister Maria Celine Kannanaikal. The chapter also plans to publicise the saintly life of Sister Maria Celine and popularise devotion to her in the institutions run by the Ursuline nuns.