Newsletter
Intranet
Editorial
Dear Sisters,
This year, 2019, has been a very important one for our Congregation as each Entity held its Chapter or Assembly in preparation for our 21st General Chapter which took place in Nemi in May. The preparatory work which you had done in the preceding year, your conviction statements and the posters containing each Sister’s photograph, led us to truly feel your presence and inspired us as we worked together in responding to the challenge of the questions: Who are we together? Who is God calling us to be? What is God calling us to do? We realised that something new was emerging within us and among us and that we were working as one body, moving from “I” to “We”. We felt that we were looking at ourselves and our place in creation through a new lens and that a new consciousness was being created.
Visit to Assisi
During our four weeks in Italy we had only two free days and it was arranged that we would go together to Assisi and then to Rome during the following week. On 15th May we had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis and of having our photograph taken with him. We gave him a copy of In the Footsteps of Fr. Medaille by Sr. Gerard, Visakhapatnam Province. He thanked us, gave us rosary beads and asked us to pray for him. It was an experience which we will remember and cherish always.
As this new phase in the life of our Congregation begins and a new General Leadership Team take up its mandate, I would like to thank each one of you for the love and support you have shown during the last six years. In 2013 the theme, “All is One”, inspired us to think about all that unites us as Sisters of St. Joseph of Annecy who live and work in eleven different countries. As we came to know each other better through visits, letters, photographs and social media we became even more aware of the family spirit which exists throughout the Congregation. I would like to think that the setting up of our Congregational website www.srsofstjosephofannecy.org and the articles and news which have been shared in “From One Continent to Another”, have helped us to come to this better knowledge and understanding.
I take this opportunity to thank the Sisters who have helped to produce the Newsletter – especially Sisters Mary Francis, Marie Roland and Maria Goretti and our translators, Sisters Thomasina who has now “retired”, Ellen and Anne Rutter. A big “Thank You” too, to all who have contributed articles over the years. I hope that many more will also be encouraged to share their news and stories.
Sisters let us pray for one another as continue our journey into the emerging future.
Affectionately in Jesus
Sr.Pauline Adampukulam
Sr Pauline presents the book to Pope Francis
Pope Francis asked us to pray for him
Work at the Mother House
On 24th July, Sr. Pauline, the General Council and Sr. Marie Ducrot (representing the Delegation of France) met with the development company, ADIM and our solicitors to discuss the current situation regarding the refurbishment of the Mother House.
ADIM informed the group that the new owners of the apartments being built in the Mother House will move in on 6th September although some exterior work around the building will continue during September.
It is hoped that the Mayor will formally inaugurate the new building at the end of October. ADIM have gifted the Congregation a piece of stone artwork that will be erected in the garden outside the Scare Coeur community and the Generalate. It will be of opened hands and words etched into the base will reflect our charism of receiving, living and sharing the great love of God. There will be a ceremony to inaugurate this statue at the end of September before the outgoing Council leave France.
It was also agreed that there will be an opportunity for Sisters to view the refurbished building – at a date to be arranged - before the residents move in.
After the meeting there was a tour of the Mother House in order to see how far the work has progressed followed by lunch with those working on the Mother House apartments.
Work on the refurbished Cloister area – note the brand new Jacobean windows
An apartment nearing completion
Lunch with the workers.
Diocesan Migrant Pastoral Day
On Sunday, February 24, 2019, wetook part in a meeting organized by the Migrant Welfare group of the Diocese of Annecy. About a hundred people of different nationalities, languages and religions came. They originated from countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, including Lebanon, Macedonia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Among them were many asylum seekers. Christians and Muslims realised they felt part of the same family.
The day began with the "hello chain" in different languages. This created a joyful and friendly atmosphere. Three people gave their testimony:
A mother of four: from Kosovo testified to the welcome and friendship she enjoyed upon her arrival in the village.
Thanks to this
friendship, she was able to overcome the enormous difficulties she faced. She has now obtained her papers and she demonstrated to us all, with great emotion, how grateful she was.
Two Frenchwomen from a small parish explained how the word of the Gospel "Ephata", heard at Mass, led to the creation of a small team of 15 people. They have been looking out for ways to reach out to others and are committed to welcoming and accompanying a family of asylum seekers to their parish. What came over most clearly was all they were gaining from these encounters.
The team had come into contact with young people from a high school to whom they spoke about the migrant situation. They, in turn, wanted to become involved and invited a young migrant to go skiing with them. At Christmas many invited friends and family to celebrate with the migrants and to share what they had been discovering.
The morning continued with discussions where we shared our experiences of joy despite our frailties. The exchange was very rich and full of simplicity and confidence, thanks to the attentive listening to one another. The children formed their own groups, accompanied by one or two adults.
At the end of the morning, each group read a few phrases remembered from their conversations and wrote them on a dove. These were placed on a huge rainbow, a symbol of our diversity.(see above)
At lunchtime, everyone enjoyed the various dishes prepared by different families and it was a beautifully animated time for dance and celebration.
The day ended with two options: the Eucharist for Catholics and a time of sharing for Muslims. We were surprised to find that some Muslim Kosovars stayed with us for the Eucharist, brothers and sisters of the same Father …together.
Sr Anna and Sr Marie
The Catholic Church in the Rhondda
Growth and Decline 1886-2019.
The undulating green hills overlooking the Rhondda Valleys tend to hide a history of coal mining, hard work, suffering but also prosperity in the Rhonda Valley towns. A section of the local cemetery, where the grave stones bear the inscription of so many Irish and Italian names, reminds the visitor of the generations who gave birth to the Church in this region.
The story of one family, told by Sadie, now 93 years old, illustrates a typical history of how the Irish came to Tonypandy back in the 1880’s. Her grandfather died young leaving her grandmother to work a farm and care for her four children. She was unable to make enough money to pay the rent on this farm so she was evicted from her home. She took her youngest child James, Sadie’s father, with her and moved in with her brother to work on his farm. The other children were cared for elsewhere.
James grew up and at the age of 24 decided to go to Wales to find work. On the boat he met a man who said there was plenty of work in Tonypandy in the mines so the two travelled on together. At that time it was usual for families to take in lodgers to boost their income so James lodged with a family and went to work in the local coal mines. At that time there was no Catholic Church but a priest came from Cardiff to say Mass in a public house about four miles from Tonypandy.
Terril: Mine cuttings
Eventually, Cardiff Diocese bought a plot of land in Tonypandy and the Irish men, after a hard day’s work in the mines, set about fetching stones from the quarry and building the Church. It was opened in 1886 thanks to the hard work of the volunteers who were mostly Irish.
James married a Welsh girl who became a Catholic and they had four children, Sadie being one of them. She remembers her mother cleaning and scrubbing the Church floor on her knees. The Church was then heated by an open coal fire. Sadie, like her mother, continued to clean the Church in her day and at present Sadie’s daughter, now about 65, with two other ladies continue the good work.
The Church is now carpeted, re-decorated and centrally heated. There will not be a next generation of this family to take over as the young people, like so many others, have left the valleys to find work.
The first priest in Tonypandy was a Fr. Bray and he was succeeded in 1894 by Fr. Griffiths. People were poor and were not able to support a priest. Fr. Griffiths died of malnutrition despite the fact that local people, mostly non-Catholics, often gave him a bowl of soup knowing that he, in turn, frequently gave what he had to poor families. However, as the years went by and the Congregation grew, both the town and Church profited from the miner’s incomes.
In the 1920’s two other churches were built in the Rhondda valleys, Treorchy and Ferndale but when, in the 1960’s the mines closed, congregations grew smaller and these two churches were also closed, much to the regret of the local people.
Tonypandy survived partly because it was attached to the one Catholic Primary School. By 2016 there was no resident priest to say Mass so the Bishop asked for two Sisters to help out. Now a visiting retired priest comes at week-ends to say Mass and two Sisters, Berenice and Joanna have moved into the Presbytery to care for the spiritual needs of the people -particularly the sick and housebound. It is very rewarding work to be able to bring Holy Communion and some comfort to people whose ancestors kept the faith alive in this area for one hundred and fifty years,
About one hundred people attend Mass every week-end. Many are from the Philippines who work in local hospitals and have young families. The Welsh/Irish/Italian parishioners are generally retired people.
The Italians also made a great contribution towards the Church in the Rhondda Valleys - but theirs is another story which is very well worth recording.
