Pastoral

“[We] are given this special vocation: to make the Church present and fruitful in those places and circumstances where it is only through [us] that the Church can become the salt of the earth” (Lumen gentium, 33).

Vatican II was a turning point in religious congregations of women throughout the world, bringing about new attitudes toward the vows, new concepts of authority, new approaches to prayer life and to community living, new ideas about formation, and new forms of ministry.

Soon after Vatican II, Bishops in Latin America gathered at Medellin, Columbia (in 1968). The “Medellin Document” called forth a response, and Sisters in Mexico soon began to develop pastoral popular: ministries for indigenous people in remote parts of the country, as well as for persons living in extreme poverty in large metropolitan areas. The work today in pastoral popular is as important as ever. Sisters live among the poorest and most marginalized, working together with those they accompany, for education towards empowerment.

Sisters in the United States have also become involved in non-traditional ministries: jail ministry, working with drug-addicts, accompanying refugees, working in parishes as pastoral associates, as foster parents, as youth ministers, with hospice, with the homeless, as counselors, advocates, and spiritual directors. Our Sisters serve through these ministries in diverse communities: in parishes, in neighborhoods, in many different cities, with individuals and communities. We are continually called to contemplate and to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and to discern together the needs in today’s world.

Our Sisters in Peru work in a variety of setting to provide services to persons who are economically poor. Living and working side by side with the people, they foster respect for plurality and cultural diversity. The Sisters evangelize the poor and are evangelized by them.