Going Beyond Frontiers

During the 2009 General Chapter, there was a call, “... to intensify our missionary spirit, taking the risks of insertion into ‘frontier’ areas where the call of immigrants and the excluded is heard.”  The São Luiz Community of the Province of Porto Alegre, Brazil, responds to this call through prayer and through supporting the Sisters responding to this challenge.

On July 17, Eucharist was celebrated by Father Armando Maroco, a Jesuit priest, for Sister Zélia Camatti, who is going on mission to Sweden, where there are already two Brazilian Sisters present, Lila and Beatriz.  Sisters of the Provincial Council and other communities were present at the celebration, along with family members and friends. As a gesture of blessing at the end of the celebration, those present expressed vows that the mission contribute to the building of unity, according to our Charism calling us to “sow good seed.”

The mission of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in Sweden began in 1862, in Stockholm, in a secular school called the French School, which students of various nationalities and religions attended.  Today, one community of Sisters remains in Sundsvall. The Sisters there work especially with immigrants of diverse nationalities and collaborate in parochial activities.

Sister Helena Maria Bianchi (Porto Alegre, Brazil)