Sion News Eng n.45.pub - NDS

N. 45
June—October 2007
SION NEWS
Some news of our move to
the Third Floor of the
Generalate.
So we are now well installed on
the third floor. It is like living in a
big apartment, with lots of small
rooms. It certainly feels more
homely and not so institutional.
The sisters who have seen us
here have also said, that it is
warm and friendly.
It can feel rather crowded, when
the finance team is here with their
consultants from the banks and
the accountants!! Then, we have
to eat in our meeting room and
not in our little dining room.
The three room infirmary apartment
is booked often now, apart of
course, from the times when the
international finance team is here
working. It has its own front door
and self-catering facilities.
Nostra Signora di Sion
Via Garibaldi 28
00153 Roma - Italia
Tel.: (39) (06) 581 0465 /
580 0479
Fax: (39) (06) 5809454
Email: sionsec@tin.it
PAGE 2
Sion News — N. 45
The terrace is also looking
more like a good patio
garden, with lots of pot
plants and herbs as well as
tomatoes.
For us from the northern
part of Europe, it is great to be in a
place where basil grows profusely
and the tomato plants are already
flowering after a week! We each
must take it in turn to water our
‘green friends’, since we are away
so much at different times.
The ‘students’ downstairs make
little noise – we are amazed.
There are 28 theology students
(seminarians) and 4 formators.
They do their cleaning on a
Saturday morning and we are
amused to see the African students
with bright blue or yellow rubber
gloves to do the sweeping and
dusting!
PAGE 3
Sion News — N. 45
The Year of Renewal at Sion
The Year of Renewal is well launched
now and there is a great deal of reflection going on in provinces. We
have had many responses about what
provinces are doing and we want to
thank you for your interaction with
us. The contemplatives are very
‘active’ in a renewal plan, with major
reflection times and a questionnaire
on which to work. Our two hermits
are in touch electronically in charism
reflection. Some of the websites are
wonderfully busy, with information
and beautiful prayer reflections.
The Special Congregational Assemblies on Leadership/membership organized by us here in Rome, got off
to a good start in Australia/
Philippines with Darlene and Helen.
You have the dates for each one and
it will be good to keep in touch with
prayer and encouragement. As you
know, this is part of the renewal of
the congregation on government and
our structures and is in preparation
for next year’s provincial chapters.
Dates and travel for the General Team Leadership
Marta:
September 19 – October 20
October 20 – November 6
December 22 – January 3
Maureen:
October 18 – October 22
December 11 – December 16
December 22 – January 3
Helen:
October 4 – 8 October
October 12 – October 22
November 1 – November 17
December 11 – December 14
Darlene:
October 18 – October 20
October 29 – November 6
November 6 – November 12
November 12 – November 16
Brazil/Argentina
Costa Rica
Brazil – Sao Paulo
(Special Congregational Assembly)
(Special Congregational Assembly)
Paris
Turkey – Istanbul
Brazil – Sao Paulo
(Special Congregational Assembly)
(Special Congregational Assembly)
(Special Congregational Assembly)
UK / Ireland
Israel
Canada USA
Turkey– Istanbul
(Province Gathering)
(Visit)
(Special Congregational Assembly)
(Special Congregational Assembly)
Paris
Costa Rica
Canada USA - Toronto
Saskatoon
(Special Congregational Assembly)
(Special Congregational Assembly)
(Special Congregational Assembly)
(Visit)
PAGE 4
Sion News — N. 45
Opening of Our new Community in Hälle East Germany
Since June 2007 four Sisters of Sion have
been living in Hälle on the river Saale in
East Germany: Anna, Clemens Maria,
Mechthild, and Rosemarie, who started to
work here already in May.
After nearly forty years’ presence of
Sisters of Sion in Frankfurt this move to
Hälle was an adventure, although it had
been preceded by several years of
discernment and a few visits to make first
contacts and then to look for an
apartment, that suited our needs. We live
in the southern part of Hälle, fairly close to
the centre of the city, which boasts of
being the birthplace of Georg Friedrich
Handel, the composer of the Messiah.
A few days after our arrival, the bishop of
Magdeburg, Gerhard Feige, who had
welcomed us to his diocese, came to
celebrate Corpus Christi with the Catholics
of Hälle on the precincts of our new
Franciscan parish of the Holy Trinity. This
was a good introduction to liturgy and
church life in Eastern Germany and an
opportunity to meet people. We had just
got rid of the last boxes in our apartment,
when Maureen arrived as our first visitor to
stay a few days.
The next guests came for Mechthild’s
birthday, followed by the
“Propst” (Dean, i.e. priest responsible for
the Catholics at Hälle), the little Sisters
of Jesus and Marist Sisters.
During these past months, each one of
us has been discovering different sections
and milieus of the town. ,We have also
visited places together both in Hälle and
its surroundings, e.g. the synagogue and
the old Jewish cemetery on the Day of the
Open Monument. Mechthild and Clemens
Maria spent three days at the newly
re-founded Cistertian Convent of Helfta,
where in the Middle Ages three famous
women mystics had lived. In September
we participated in the Diocesan pilgrimage
to the Huysburg, a Benedictine Monastery,
where several bishops from different
countries were concelebrating with our
bishop.
Only recently the four of us were delighted
to see the Unesco World Heritage town of
Quedlingburg, famous for its Romanesque
churches and timber-framed houses.
PAGE 5
Sion News — N. 45
The Sisters of Saint Elizabeth, called the
Gray Sisters, who had offered us
hospitality when we were searching for
the apartment, invited Catholic and
Protestant religious to rejoice with them in
the beatification of their co-foundress
Maria Merkert (+ 1872).
This took place at Nysa, Poland, on the
day when the new Sion house at Kraków
was blessed.
And now some of us are exploring ways
and places of possible involvement in
work and ministry.
The Community at Hälle
News from the Youth Rally in Hungary
Budapest 16-22 September 2007
After Vienna, Lisbon and Brussels, the
‘week of mission in the city’ took place this
year in Budapest. The international Congress for The New Evangelisation was organised by the Catholic parishes and the
new movements and communities of believers, with much support from the Community of Emmanuel. The theme of this
meeting was : “to give you a future and a
hope” (Jer. 29:11).
Every morning there were
prayers, conferences, testimonies and Eucharist in St.
Stephen’s Basilica, where
everyone from different
countries was invited. In the
afternoon and in the evening
various meetings took place
in the parishes, but also on the streets of
Budapest, such as conferences, workshops, meetings and concerts.
A significant event was
the Day of the Martyrdom
(September 19) in Esztergom with the testimonies
of witnesses József
Hagyó, József Bálint,
Placid Olofsson, and others. In the late afternoon
the group returned by
boat to Budapest.
The other remarkable event
was the Torchlight procession
and mass on Gellért Hill.
Sr. Anne Denise, Sr. Eva (Hungarian), Sr.
Marie Lise, Sr. Marie Pierre, Sr. Thérèse
and Kaisa were present
and participated in many
events. They were asked to
lead prayer and give a testimony of their life in the Congregation Notre Dame de
Sion in the disco!
Friday morning we were invited to visit a
former school of Sion on the hill of Buda.
During our meeting we talked with the present principal, with professors and students. We were very warmly welcomed:
‘the spirit’ of Sion is still present there.
All the meetings with the young people but
also within our small community were full
of joy, warmth and a family spirit.
We were not yet home, in Cracow, when
sisters called us to share the news with
our community that the next
meeting 2008 will be in
Poland in Warsaw !
Kaisa
PAGE 6
Sion News — N. 45
Province Pilgrimage to Poland
In September, 16 members of the UK/Ireland
Province made a pilgrimage to Poland. Our
journey started in Krakow with a visit to
Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz Birkenau where
we saw the unbelievable horrors of the
Shoah. I was shocked to see how enormous
was site of Auschwitz Birkenau – it went as far
as the eye could see.
There was an terrible eerie atmosphere of evil
there. As our journey continued to several
other camps, the questions which I found
myself asking were ‘How could this happen?’
and ‘Why did no one speak out?’
PAGE 7
Sion News — N. 45
Our journey to Poland has challenged me to look at my response to these same questions applied to the many situations of evil in our world – What is my response?
Am I able to speak out, or am I paralyzed by fear or apathy?
The difficult visits to the camps were interspersed with signs of hope and courage. We
learnt about courageous acts of resistance, and we visited the factory of Oscar Schindler
who gave employment to over 1000 Jews, thus protecting them from the death camps.
One of the highlights of our pilgrimage
was our visit to our community in Krakow. Anne Denise, Ania and Kaisa
gave us a great Sion welcome in their
beautiful house.
They spoke to us of their situation in
Poland, the Church there, and their
work. I was inspired by their commitment and enthusiasm in a place where
the charism of Sion is so needed.
It is taking time for me to unpack the effects of our journey to Poland. I hope it will
continue to sharpen my own commitment to our Charism and give me the courage to
speak out, or rather shout, in situations of injustice, prejudice and anti Semitism.
Anne Lee
Outside Schinldler’s Factory
PAGE 8
Sion News — N. 45
Sion Sisters Attend ICCJ Meeting in Sydney
Almost two months have gone by, and we are still recovering from the joy of not only
having had a very successful Conference of the International Council of Christians
and Jews but also the attendance and visit of nine sisters of Sion from overseas. We
were eighteen Sisters of Sion altogether, with Helen and Darlene from the General
Leadership. During the Sion meeting that followed, we reflected on the conference
theme (Healing a Broken Earth) and drew up four recommendations that we have
circulated to the Congregation. These concern: 1. Lectionary reform 2. The way we as
Christians should speak of Jesus in the dialogue 3. Tikkun Olam, what we can do to
care for our planet and 4. A recommendation that our younger sisters be encouraged
to attend the next ICCJ conference that will be in Jerusalem near the end of June
2008. At the ICCJ women’s group that preceded the ICCJ conference we were
twenty-two women who were guided in telling our stories on the first day by an aboriginal woman using the symbols of water, fire and earth. We participated in Shabbat and on the Sunday studied the Book of Ruth with Mary Reaburn and Deborah
Weissman.
The ICCJ Conference was well attended with 165 registrations, including forty
young people who had been sponsored by the New Zealand and Victorian Council,s with even more attending the opening ceremony featuring an aboriginal smoking ceremony and dancing, a medley of songs from the Jewish Choral Society and
an inspiring address by the Governor.
PAGE 9
Sion News — N. 45
We finished with an Awards Banquet at
which Sion received a great honour when
Marianne Dacy was awarded the 2007 Sir
Sigmund Sternberg Award for her sustained
intellectual contribution to Jewish Christian
relations. Marianne also has been asked to
join an ICCJ forum on the future of Jewish
Christian relations that first meets at Arnoldshain, near Frankfurt, in November. It
has a three year mandate to draw up some
creative suggestions.
There should be some of us rejoicing that we
will be “Next year in Jerusalem”, but now
our different groups need to start fundraising to sponsor young people to attend, as
well as encouraging others to come.
Marianne
A Letter from Gene Fisher
in response to our letter on his retirement
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Dear Sr. Maureen,
Many thanks for your kind letter on my retirement.
I would like to thank the Sisters of Sion for all
the help and support you have given to CatholicJewish relations over the years. In many countries to which I have travelled the Sisters were
way out in front of the local bishops in fostering
the dialogue. My family and I have enjoyed your
hospitality in Rome and Australia. I have many
friends among the sisters, for which I thank God.
EUGENE FISHER
Former Associate Director of the
Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops
And I am not ready for the rocking chair they
gave me just yet.
Fondly yours in shalom,
Gene Fisher
PAGE 10
Sion News — N. 45
We remember in our affection and our prayer, our deceased sisters
Sr Henriqueta (Arantes)
Sr Sara Lou Bryant
Sr Celina Silva Porto
Sr Marie Johnson
Sr Bertholda Durmann
16/07/2007
26/07/2007
05/08/2007
19/10/2007
27/10/2007
São Paulo
Saskatoon
Rio de Janeiro
Box Hill
Wien
Sent out
June 18:
June 20:
July 2:
October 3:
October 5:
October 27:
Letter to associates in Portuguese to the Provincial Brazil
News Letter June from GLT to all the sisters
News Letter June in portughuese to Brazil
Letter Special Congregational Assemblies from GLT to all the Provincial teams
Letter Special Congregational Assemblies from GLT to the Provincial team in Brazil
Letter International Formation Meeting to Formation personnel
Status 2007
Corrections:
P. 6
P. 26
P. 26
P. 61
P. 61
Correct Fax number for Iaşi Community : Fax 232 21 14 59
Correct Tel. and Fax numbers for Colégio Nossa Senhora de Sion – Batel Curitiba
Tel [55] (41) 3019 6155; Fax [55] (41) 3077-1339
Correct Fax number and Email: for Colégio Nossa Senhora de Sion - Solitude
Fax [55] (41) 32 26 4743; E-mail: colegio@sion.arauc.br
Correct email address for Mary Carmen Busuttil : marycarmenbusuttil@yahoo.com
Correct email address for Mireille Gilles : mir_gilles21@yahoo.fr
New Email Address:
P. 47 New email address for Anne Michèle: nds.pajol@hotmail.fr
P. 54 New email address for Berba Community: ndsberba@gmx.at
P. 75: New email address for Maureen Scrine: mscrine@googlemail.com
PAGE 11
Sion News — N. 45
New Address:
P. 22
P. 23
New address for Sr Terezinha: Cosme Velho, 120. 22241-09 Rio de Janeiro, RJ
New address for Sr. Maria Jilvaneide dos Santos: rua Iperoig, 209, Perdizes 05016-000
Sao Paulo
New House:
New Community : HÄLLE/Saale
P. 41
Frankfurt/Main Community is closed in July 2007.
Sr Anne Schwarz, Sr Clemens Maria and
Sr Mechthild Vahle moved to Hälle/Saale:
Sionsschwestern
Elsa Brändström Str. 196
D - 06110 HÄLLE/Saale
(Germany)
Tel. [49] (345) 122 78 48
Email:
Sionsschwestern-ffm@t-online.de
Mechthildv2000@yahoo.fr
Annaschwarz-sion@yahoo.de
***
Sr Rosemarie Wesolowski
Unterplan 2
D- 6110 HÄLLE/Saale
Tel.
[49] (345) 122 85 71
Email: rosemarie_wesolowski@yahoo.de
Note for Krakow Communuty
Telephone
P. 48 :
Tel./Fax : [48] 12 635 87 36
for Anne Denise + 25
for Ania : + 27
Fax: + 24 soon after the ring and at the beginning
of vocal announce
Leaving message: after the end of vocal announce
P. 44
New address for
Sr Victorine Mbuyamba-Muanza:
6 place du Chanoine Bos
91130 RIS ORANGIS (FRANCE)
Tel. portable 06 07 45 08 74
Email: victorinemuanza@wanadoo.fr
P. 57
New address for Sr Carmen Farrugia:
628/6 Adam Street, Armon Ha Naziv
93782 Jerusalem (Israel)
Tel.: [972] (2) 673 8595
Transfer :
Sr Lucy Thorson left Rome in July
and went back in CANADA.
She is now part of the Canada-USA
province.
New Address for Sr Lucy Thorson
(p.33):
15 Oakmount Road
Toronto, Ontario
M6P 2M3
Canada
Tel. 416 769 8805 or 416 769 8267
Email: lucythorson@hotmail.com
Note:
P. 6: Novice Edenia Santos Costa left the Solitude in Curitiba in August 2007.
P. 21: Petropolis Community in Rio de Janeiro is closed following after the death of Sr Nazareth in
May 2007.
PAGE 12
Sion News — N. 45
Union of International Superiors General ( UISG )
A new model of leadership
During the May 2007 UISG congress in Rome, the assembly changed
the model of UISG leadership, from Executive Council to a Board of
Directors with an executive secretary and three Presidents.
Each of the presidents will take one year of office. Maureen was
elected one of the three presidents to serve as president from May
2009/May 2010.
Celebration for First vows of Sr. Maria Marta at Curitiba Solitude
Maria Marta is from the state of Paraíba north eastern Brazil.
Her family moved to Rio de Janeiro, and it was there that she became
involved in vocations reflections, which was led by Sr. Maria Cecilia.
She felt she wanted to get to know more about the contemplative
houses of Sion. After her first visit she asked for a more prolonged
stay.
On May 6, 2004 she came to stay for three months. In September of
that year, she asked to begin her novitiate.
She was received on the eighth of September, the Nativity of Mary;
one of the feasts of the congregation.
Maria Marta learned more about our founders and Mère Christine,
and discovered the vast wealth they left us. She loves and desires
that the charism of Sion be better known in the Church and the world.
In her desire to be faithful to God in contemplative religious life at
Sion, she asked to be admitted to make first vows on the feast of
Our Lady of Aparecida, Brazil's patron.
In the journey of her Christian vocation, she always counted on the presence of Mary at her side.
She wanted her profession to be on a special feast of Mary
On 12th. of October, we celebrated the event with great joy in the church and in the community.
We send our thanks to all of you in the congregation for your prayers, letters, emails and your presence. You were represented by the Sisters of Sion in Curitiba and sisters of the novitiate with the two
novices, and with Maria do Carmo, Provincial of Brazil.
May this year's renewal be a blessing for all.
With a caring hug to all!
Sr. Angela Margarida