Three hundred seventy major superiors of women religious met at the St. Joseph Vaz Spiritual Renewal Centre, Old Goa, on January 19-22, 2017, for their triennial 48th Assembly.
The theme was: Women of Contemplation, Compassion and Communion.
The well-planned conference included a keynote address by Sr Rita Pinto RSCJ, President of the Women’s Section of the National CRI. She invited the participants to move to the peripheries, as Pope Francis has been asking religious to do, and get involved in new ministries, not as a temporary plan, but as a life commitment.
Fr Joe Mannath SDB, National CRI Secretary, spoke next, explaining some of the National CRI policies, and also speaking briefly about the triple topic.
The main speakers were:
Sr Maria Anto CMC, who spoke of Contemplation in the Contemporary World, explaining its meaning, traditional roots and current expressions;
Sr Inigo Joaquim SSA, who dealt with Compassion, basing herself on the Gospels and the teachings of Pope Francis, and showing the relevance of the theme to contemporary people;
Sr Ananda Amritmahal RSCJ, who spoke of Communion, which, in many ways is a dire need today, when gadgets often prevent, rather than facilitate communion of persons.
Another inspiring session was a panel made up of representatives of three ecclesial movements—Ms Cheryl Anne, who spoke of the Focolare Movement, Ms Rose Anna who shared her experiences in the Jesus Youth Movement, and Constantino and Margaret D’Sa, who represented the Couples for Christ.
Group work and general assembly gave the participants chances to be actively involved in the Conference.
The business sessions included reports on the activities of CRI-W, presentation and approval of the accounts, and a brief presentation of the situation, performance and current needs of Institute Mater Dei, which comes under the CRI-W, and more directly under its Vice-President, Sr Jacinta D’Souza DHM.
The presiders at the three Eucharist Celebrations were: Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas SFX (CBCI General Secretary), Archbishop Felipe Neri of Goa and Fr Joe Mannath SDB.
The Goa CRI unit did a splendid job with the preparation, hospitality and arrangements
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