GENERAL CHAPTER MEMBERS CONVENE IN ROME

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1 September WE ARE DIFFERENT YET ONE The way of Jesus to walk united with our differences. -Pope Francis Volume VI Issue No. 5 September-October 2018 Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing, Casa Santo Spirito, Via dei Bevilacqua 60, 00165, Rome Italy GENERAL CHAPTER MEMBERS CONVENE IN ROME Forty four Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing from all over the world convened at the Casa Santo Spirito, Generalate House in Rome from September 23- October 25 for the XIII General M. Maoro Chapter. The theme of the General Chapter was WE ARE DIFFERENT YET ONE. The way of Jesus to walk united with our differences. -Pope Francis Highlights of the first day were the opening liturgy, welcome address of the Prioress General, M. Angela Strobel, the formal opening of the exhibit on the history of the General Chapters from 1927 to the present and the commemoration of the 133rd Jubilee of the Congregation with a special compline which served also as a preparation for a three-day retreat conducted by Fr. Michael Casey, OCSO. Abbot Primate em. Notker Wolf, OSB, facilitated the election of the Prioress General. M. Maoro Sye was elected for this position. She served as General Councilor from , then as Prioress of Daegu Priory from 2015 to the present. M. Angela then facilitated the election of the general councilors. Sr. Lumen Gloria Dungca was re-elected as Vicaress General. Sr. Vania Maria Toscano, Sr. Regina Tesch, and Sr. Katharina Mtitu were elected general councilors. GENERAL CHAPTER, PAGE 2 Sr. Rosann Pope Francis with the General Chapter Members

2 Congregation Lifestream 2 GENERALATE FROM PAGE 1 Sr. Mary John Mananzan relates the other extra events of the chapter, After the election we went on a pilgrimage to Subiaco the next day. In the evening we had our program for the new Generalate. On October 7, we celebrated the 40th l-r: Sr. Katharina, Sr. Vania Maria, M. Maoro, Sr. Lumen Gloria, Sr. Regina Exhibit on the General Chapters from 1927 to the present Fr. Casey receives gift from M. Angela Abbot Notker congratulates M. Maoro Closing Liturgy the Generalate lifts the logo Profession Jubilee of Sr. Lumen Gloria. On October 11, we celebrated Mother Angela s feastday. In the evening we had another program. On October 14, many of us attended the canonization of 7 saints, the most prominent of whom were Pope Paul VI and Bishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. On Wednesday, October 17 we went back to St. Peter s Square for the audience with the Pope. Pope Francis homily was on the gospel according to St. Matthew about not calling people stupid or fool. He said these insults can be a kind of killing people. He admonished us to be keeper of our brothers and sisters, accepting them, caring for them, forgiving them, loving them. We had the opportunity of having our group picture taken with him." Sr. Caridad Choi adds, We were 20 sisters who attended the peace mass. She continues, I like Card. Parolin s statement during his homily and I quote, 'With God's grace the path of forgiveness becomes possible, the choice of fraternity among peoples becomes a concrete fact, peace becomes a shared horizon even in the diversity of those who make up the international community. Sr. Ruth Bartonico makes her recap of the General Chapter with these lines, The last days of the Chapter were spent on tying the knots, so to speak, despite the still many GENERALATE, PAGE 3 Sisters attend the Peace Mass for the Korean peninsula at St. Peter's Basilica

3 Congregation Lifestream GENERALATE FROM PAGE 3 brilliant ideas that were brought to the floor and seemed to be not running out. Providentially, they were all punctuated with good humor and laughter. We thank our patient moderators who wisely led us to the end of these sessions. On October 25, the General Chapter officially ended with the celebration of a meaningful liturgy which reminded us that the work we had done are Sr. Elisabeth Busbach served as superior of Bulgaria for three years. Sr. Maria Agnes Cerina was installed superior of Bulgaria on September 14. She has been in Bulgaria for the past 10 years. She succeeds Sr. Elisabeth Busbach. 3 from God and that we are covenant partners in His endeavors. In the evening, the Chapter members showcased the richness of our diversity by sharing their gifts and talents during the farewell program, which truly delighted the audience. It was a night of joy and fun! Indeed, we can only exclaim with the psalmist, How good and how pleasant it is when we all live in unity! Sr. Anselma Samuel (left) and Sr. Julitta Enkono (right) made their final profession during the eucharistic celebration at St. Benedict's Chapel of the Windhoek Priory on September 8. + Rest in Peace Sr. Maria Gertrudes de Lucena, 85, died in Barbalha on September 14. Abt. Guillermo Rome: Casa Community with Guests Praying lauds in the open air for the annual celebration of the World Day of Creation on September 1

4 Congregation Lifestream 4 CIB HOLDS EIGHT SYMPOSIUM IN ROME BY SR. VANIA MARIA TOSCANO, OSB Front l-r: Sr. Letisia, M. Angela, Sr. Terese, Sr. Ecclesia Back l-r: Sr. Pauline, Sr. Aquinata, Sr. Vania The 8th Symposium of the CIB (Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum )was held at the Pontificio Ateneo Sant'Anselmo, Rome from September It was attended by 120 Benedictine women, representatives of all communities recognized by the Abbot Primate, as such, and included in the Catalogue Monastic OSB. Seven of our sisters were in attendance. M. Angela Strobel as co-opted delegate, Sr. Terese Zemale and Sr. Letisia Komba representatives of East Africa, Sr. Ecclesia Pak, representative of Korea, Sr. Vania M. Toscano representative of Brazil, plus Sr. Adelaida Ygrubay, Prioress of Manila, who presented one of the lectures on Hospitality Inside the Monastery, and Sr. Pauline Triviño also from Manila, as a member of the Planning Team and facilitator of the Symposium. Sr. Aquinata Boeckman was present on the second day, and her presence had always been greatly appreciated for her valuable contribution on the studies of the Rule of Benedict. For the opening mass on the first day, four African juniors from our International Juniors Program in Rome were present along with Sr. Katharina Mtitu, a member of our General Chapter PrepCo. They enhanced the offertory with a Kiswahili song and choreographed beautifully to the sound of African drums. The Symposium addressed the theme of Hospitality, RB 53.1, "All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ". On the first day Abbot Emeritus Martin Werlen of Einsiedeln, Switzerland led the participants to reflect on Tradition and Traditions. Then the theme was addressed from the practical experiences of nuns and sisters: "Hospitality Inside the Monastery" and "Hospitality Outside the Monastery". A special day for all and highly expected was September 8 which was the private audience with the Holy Father Pope Francis. The 120 members of the Symposium, led by Abbot Primate Gregory Polan were received in the San Clement room at 11:00 o clock a.m. Despite the long wait, the time of this meeting, in itself, happened very quickly. With the arrival of the Pope we welcomed him with applause. The Abbot Primate gave a few introductory words, describing briefly the history and performance of CIB. He stressed the importance and the great value of the search for Communio among Benedictine women from all over the world, stressing mutual collaboration and sharing of experiences through joint studies of spirituality and community life. Then the Holy Father addressed us. Immediately after began the greetings. Each participant approached the Pope with much expectation and excitement. However, one had to pay attention to reminders: ' faster ', not establishing conversation ', ' no questions/ dialogue Abt. Guillermo ', in other words, just don't stay long before the Pope. While the latest Sisters haven't even managed to get back to theirs places, a picture of the whole group has already been completed, having the Holy Father sitting at the center. One could see in this picture that the sisters were still moving. So, waving his hand to us quickly the Holy Father disappeared from the room. We returned to St. Anselm sharing the joys and the enjoyment of that unforgettable moment. On September 12, at 7:00 o clock a.m., two buses took the Benedictines for a pilgrimage in Subiaco. The first stop was at Saint Scholastica Monastery where, after a tour, all attended mass with the renewal of monastic vows. After lunch, there was time to visit the Sacro Speco. It would be good to point out the Ecumenical aspect of this Symposium. Two Benedictines, one a deaconess of the Evangelical Church of Paris, and another from the Anglican Church of England participated very well. "They felt welcomed as Christ", that was how each one expressed their

5 Congregation Lifestream 5 gratitude when invited to share their impressions. The prayer times were very well prepared even considering all the varied languages and cultures. The most widely spoken languages such as English, Italian, German, French and Spanish were used for the Divine Office and the Eucharistic Celebration. One day for each language. However those who prepared the liturgy saw to it that there was an inclusion of other languages, as on the first day the offertory was in Kiswahili. Other cultural and linguistic expressions were covered in the minor offices Terce and None. This time we could hear hymns and psalms in Polish, Vietnamese, Kiswahili, Ukrainian, Lithuanian and others. To listen to the young sisters was a wellprepared and interesting dynamics. They expressed their vision about the hospitality which they experienced in their monasteries, and the way they saw the service of hospitality in their communities especially among the poor and marginalized of our society. At the end was group work with proposed themes for the next Symposium in THE MISSIONARY BENEDICTINE SISTERS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CIB (COMMUNIO INTERNATIONALIS BENEDICTINARUM) * Our congregation had been aggregated to the Benedictine Confederation since 1965, according to the Proper Law of the Confederation, that those monasteries or congregations could be aggregated according to the following criteria: 1) if the Rule of Benedict in their spirituality is very significant, 2) if community life is an important basis, and 3) if the Opus Dei is an essential part of their life. The aggregation took place under Abbot Primate Benno Gut, who was a good friend of our community. In 1973 Benedictine Nuns and Sisters were practically two separate groups, and the knowledge of each other was low. Sr. Aquinata remembers that in a French abbey, giving talks about RB, one member of the community asked candidly: But you (as congregation) live also the Rule a little bit? This was a sort of eye opener, how little information came from the Sisters to the Nuns and surely vice versa. The fact that Sr. Aquinata had a task in this contribution of our congregation to the development of the CIB was due to the wide vision of M. Gertrud and then M. Edeltrud, and those who followed. M. Gertrud wanted Sr. Aquinata to have the doctorate in theology, and in 1973 proposed that she would teach at St. Anselmo. And this happened; Abbot Primate Weakland was very positive. So she was the first woman in this task, which she considered always as a service of the congregation to the confederation. As such, she was elected in some commissions and committees and could serve BY SR. AQUINATA BÖCKMANN, OSB still in a more concrete way. Since the Abbot s Congress in 1973, the first time, a commission for Benedictine Nuns, and one for Benedictine Sisters (each one comprising 7 members) were invited to the Abbots Congress at St. Anselmo as observers. These commissions, when thinking about their aims formulated more or less: to facilitate communications, to provide an advisory board in matters pertaining to Nuns and Sisters, and later: as a potential instrument of fostering unity of Nuns and Sisters OSB. In the commission of Sisters, there were as far as remembered 3 (or 4) Benedictines from USA, the Prioress General of Vanves: M. Bénigne, and of Loppem: M. Colombe together with our M. Gertrud. This gave for the last three the first opportunities to meet among themselves as Missionary Benedictine Sisters. (Those of Vanves and Loppem had dropped the word missionary as in French it has the smell of colonialism). These contacts made us as Missionary Benedictine Sisters see more clearly our charism. At a later meeting among the three, it came up, that M. Colombe wanted her Sisters to become Nuns; they had asked the Congregation for Religious, but our Prioress General (already M. Edeltrud) and M. Bénigne were of the opinion that we are Benedictines, and that this is more M. Gertrud also brought other members to our house, like M. Cecilia from Bertholdstein (representative of the German Nuns). (to be continued in the next issue)

6 Congregation Lifestream 6 Intercultural Living A Feature of the Renewal of our Charism Today Sr. Lucia Sr. Timotea Sr. Emiliana Sr. Lucia Jorger from Rome to Haus St. Benedikt Sr. Timotea Kronschnabl from Torres Novas to Sorocaba Sr. Emiliana Kang from Daegu to Torres Novas " Intercultural living builds on the conviction that since GOD creates difference, difference is good; and that therefore, we are committed to living, not in spite of our differences, but specifically in, with, and through them. (Fr. Anthony Gittins, CSSp) The XIII General Chapter Members and Auxiliary Secretaries Thank you for your special prayerful support during the XIII General Chapter, The Generalate