Toward the General chapter
July 2007
Our
congregational
website is now
available at
www.smr.org
You may follow
the General
Chapter by
clicking on the
Chapter Logo at the top
right side of the menu bar.
A Little History
From 1989 to 2001
In 1992, the chapel of Bauffe was
reconstituted in the oratory of Rome.
This period saw the beginning of a
regrouping of countries to form one
province
or
region.
Sister
Mary
prepared and organised the beatification
of Mother Mary of Jesus on October 12,
1997. A community was opened in Vac,
Hungary and a foundation was made in
Guatemala.
www.smr.org
(Click) Life Journey
(Click) Our History
(Click) The congregation continues
(Click) Generals Superior
We advise all those going to
Loyola that there is the
possibility of rain and cold
weather
during the
month of July.
Sr. Mary Henihan
(M. M. of St. Paula)
General Superior from 1989-2001
Presently in the Strasbourg
Community, France
from Fr. Semenenko to Mother Mary
of Jesus.
NOMINATIONS
Provincial Level
Province of Spain CentreSouth/Hungary
Superiors
Sr. Concepcion Gonzalea Elias
Community of Cadiz
02/05/2007- 2009
Sr. Eulalia Ituero Bravo
Community of Chamartin (Avila)
02/05/2007-2009
CHANGE OF ADDRESS
Uganda/Kenya
New e-mail address Entebbe
reparatrix@yahoo.com
Death of Fr. Henri de Gensac, s.j.
On Friday 25th of May, Fr. Henri de
Gensac, librarian and historian, died
in Toulouse (France).
We wish to pay tribute to him for the
historical work he undertook for our
congregation and for his great
attachment to our charism and the
person of our Foundress.
Sr.
Christine Barrière sent a letter to the
Provincial Superior of the Jesuits of
France to express our sympathy and
our gratitude to Fr. de Gensac.
Fr. Gensac has just reread the last
draft of the manuscript of the
retreats of Our Foundress.
This
manuscript will be printed in Rome
as soon as possible. He was also
working on the editing of the Letters
Just to remind you, here are the
works written by Fr. de Gensac, for
our Congregation.
2004 Pierre OLIVAINT, s.j.
Correspondance avec M. Marie de
Jésus et M. Marie de St. Victor
(1862-1871)
2003 Marie de Jésus, Lettres et
relations spirituelles au P. Pierre
Semenenko (1873-1878)
1998 Paul GINHAC, s.j. Lettres à
Marie de Jésus (1861-1875)
1997 Marie de Jésus, fondatrice de
la Société de Marie Reparatrice, éd.
Fidélité
1994 Frédéric STUDER, s.j. Lettres
à Mère Marie de Jésus (1856-1873)
1992 Présentation historique de la
Société de Marie Reparatrice (18861953)
Death of Fr. Benito Gangiti, O.P.
We also received the news of the
death of Fr. Gangoitti, in Bilbao at
the end of last year.
Fr. Benito Gangoitti, a Spanish
Dominican, was the postulator who
brought
the
process
for
the
Beatification
of
Our
Mother
Foundress to an end. Having being
informed of the state of the cause
and having done some investigation,
he welcomed the request to work on
it with enthusiasm and said: “This is
a difficult cause but it is beautiful
and I accept being responsible for
it.”
It was June 25th 1976. From that
moment until the Beatification, on
October 12th 1997, he worked
actively using the documentation,
first of all in collaboration with Sr.
Ana Elisa Lapeña who edited the
Positio and later with Sr. Luisa di
Muzio.
We carry him in our prayer and
remember him with gratitude.
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The foundation in the Congo has
begun.
On
Saturday
May
19th
Sr.
Immaculate Nakato, regional of
Uganda/Kenya escorted the three
sisters, S. Mary Florence Nakiweewa,
S. Denise Souci and S. Marie Goretti
Razazarohavana, who will make the
foundation to the border of Uganda
and the Congo. There they were
met by a Fr. Wilfrid an Assumptionist
priest who took them to their
destination. We give thanks to the
Lord for this new community of Marie
Reparatrice in the Congo and we
assure the sisters of our affectionate
and prayer.
News of the Website
For several days you have had the
opportunity to see our new website,
the appreciations we have received
are encouraging and very positive.
We thank all the sisters who
contributed to the website, in
particular Sr. Gerry McCullagh and
Sr. Judy Frasinetti, whose Mission
letter ends in July 07. Not wanting
to leave
the
website without
somebody being responsible for its
maintenance, with the General
Council, I have decided to name a
sister provisionally responsible. Sr.
Christine Zeller, of the Region of
France, in collaboration with our
technician, M. Luiz da Rosa will
assure this service and I thank them.
Plenary assembly of the UISG
and
the
assembly
of
the
delegates of the Constellations.
The plenary assembly of the UISG
gathered in Rome, from the 6th-10th
May 07 approximately 850 General
Superiors from the five continents.
Following this meeting, the assembly
of the delegates of the Constellations
was held from 11th to the 13th May.
You can have some echoes of the
content of these meetings and see
some photographs on the site
UISG/USG: vidimusdominum.org
The theme of the Plenary could at
first seem complex but it is very
revealing, very fruitful and rich in
significant
symbolism
or
our
consecrated life today:
“Challenged to weave a new
spirituality which generates hope
and life for all.”
We say the importance of weaving a
new spirituality in all the places
where our humanity is suffering and
we deepened five “threads” in our
weaving.
 Women
 Earth and its sacred character
 Interreligious dialogue
 Immigrants
and
displaced
persons
 Collaboration with the laity
During
the
assembly
of
the
delegates,
the
new
executive
committee of the UISG was elected
and a modification was made to the
statute. As it is very difficult for the
same person to be at the same time
president of the UISG and General
Superior of her congregation, we
opted to have one president per
year: we elected three presidents
from among the eight members of
the executive, one for each year.
With the election of this new
executive, my mandate has come to
an end and I am grateful for all that
I received during these three years
of working for the service of religious
life.
Sr. Christine Barrière
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Declaration of Women
Religious Leaders
members of the
International Union
of Superiors General
participating at the
UISG Plenary held in
Rome May 6-10,
and ratified by the Assembly of
Delegates on May 13 2007
We, 850 women leaders
representing nearly 800,000
members
of Catholic Religious Institutes
throughout the world,
have reflected together on the
theme:
Challenged to weave a new
spirituality which generates
hope and life for all
Our passion for Jesus Christ and for
humanity and creation impels us to
become weavers of hope and life.
“I have come that they may have life
and life in abundance” Jn. 10, 10
Throughout this Assembly, we have
heard the invitation to live in
covenant with God, as co-creators,
generating life and hope, through
relationships of respect, dialogue,
inclusion, trust, co-responsibility and
interdependence.
Our
growing
awareness of our connectedness with
the whole of life in all its forms
challenges us to deepen a new vision
and understanding of consecrated
life today.
Contemplating the Word of God, we
are called to read the signs of our
times with the eyes of God and with
our women’s hearts.
“I have seen the misery of my
people…I have heard their cry…I
know their pain. I have come to
deliver them…” Exodus 3, 7
This Word calls us to seek a
prophetic response to the challenges
we have seen and the cries we have
heard:
 The longing of woman to
rediscover her dignity and her
true place in society and in the
Church
 The groaning of our wounded
earth for recognition of its
sacredness as the home of all
 The thirst for a deeper
communion between believers
of all religions
 The distress of millions of
immigrants and displaced
persons, of children and
women victims of human
trafficking seeking a more
human life
 The call of the Spirit to create
in our congregations links of
reciprocity with lay people so
that the charism of each
congregation may be lived
beyond existing structures.
“And now I send you…go and
liberate my people…and I will be
with you” Exodus 3, 10-12
In gratitude for the mission
entrusted to us, we will:
 Engage in on-going dialogue
between the Word of God and
life, the heart of our
commitment as consecrated
women called to follow Christ.
 Network and use the power of
our collective voice to
denounce unjust laws and
structures which exclude
people on such bases as
gender, religion, culture.
 Promote all forms of dialogue,
and in particular inter-religious
dialogue, recognizing our
common responsibility for
humanity.
 Grow in an ecological
awareness and express this in
4
concrete and consistent
choices.
 Encourage a vision of Church
as communion where a real
partnership with laity is lived.
 Form consecrated women
ready to respond to these
challenges with faith and
daring.
With Mary, let us become Weavers of
the Kingdom of God,
May the conversation of our hearts
and minds uproot us,
May we widen our tent.
May hope and life for humanity and
all creation surge
from our tireless weaving of a
spirituality of communion.
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