St Mary’s School, Cambridge welcomes Sister Elena to hear about Congregation of Jesus’ mission in Cuba On Friday 17 October, St Mary’s Senior School, Cambridge was honoured to welcome Sister Elena Gatica Romero CJ, the Vicar General of the Congregation of Jesus, as the guest speaker at assembly. Our school was founded in Cambridge 115 years ago by the Congregation of Jesus, but our roots extend back 400 years to the order’s foundress, Mary Ward, who not only established the Congregation of Jesus (then known as the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary), but also founded a number of girls’ schools in continental Europe, the legacy of which lives on today in over 200 schools worldwide. The school supports the work of the CJ sisters in Cuba amongst other places, and the assembly was a thought-provoking opportunity for students and staff to hear about the current situation in Cuba, and the work carried out. The school heard how typically Cubans are spontaneous, extrovert, caring and friendly people, but that much time is spent in trying to solve everyday problems such as food provision and transport. Religion has been a delicate topic since the 1959 Revolution in Cuba, when freedom of religion was restricted, until a process of flexibility and openness to religious belief started in the 1990s. Despite this introduction of flexibility and openness, it is still not possible to open Catholic schools or universities, or any institution dedicated to social services, or pastoral care in hospitals, so the activities of the Catholic Church are restricted to the context of the parish. Therefore, the sisters of the Congregation of Jesus undertake a number of activities through the context of the parish, in order to offer care in the community. A few of the many activities the sisters undertake include: pastoral care programmes of activities with children and adolescents; workshops with disabled people, elderly people, sick people, people in prison, and people with AIDS; ‘solidarity laundries’, where washing machines are installed in a home, and the families commit to washing clothes of the elderly; and ‘adopting a family’, where six Italian families give money to support six very poor Cuban families with psychologically or physically ill family members. Sister Elena shared comments from members of the parishes about the sisters’ work: The sisters help whatever the beliefs of the people: their concern is the person, the individual, particularly the poor, the sick, the outcast, women and children... The sisters arrived in the poorest, most remote places, with difficult access. They arrived on foot, on horseback, by bicycle, in lorries, in horse-drawn carts, etc. They have shown us how to meet Jesus and how to be missionaries. Charlotte Avery, Headmistress at St Mary’s School, Cambridge said: “Our school is a Christian school in the Catholic tradition, and a visit from such an inspirational figure as Sister Elena was a key part of sharing the school’s ethos this year. It was such a tremendous honour to hear from Sister Elena on the work being undertaken in Cuba – a mission to which our school contributes through fundraising. The sisters are an excellent source of inspiration to our students and staff alike. “Having gained a great insight in to the activities of the sisters, we are reminded that there are many people around the world whose lives are very different to our own owing to their different freedoms, whether financially, in terms of opportunity, and also in terms of religious faith. In the words of our foundress Mary Ward, ‘Women in time to come will do much’, we hope our girls will be inspired by the work of the sisters” The sisters of the Congregation of Jesus will continue sharing, accompanying and sustaining the faith of these suffering communities, who nonetheless always remain hopeful. St Mary’s School, Cambridge is an independent girls’ day and boarding school educating students from age 4 to 18 stmaryscambridge.co.uk
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 09:59:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015