Rome (Italy). From 12 to 14 April 2023, the 70th General Assembly of the Union of Major Superiors of Italy (USMI) took place in Rome, at the headquarters of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. The theme: “Women Witnesses of the Risen” accompanied the reflection to discern and open ways of the future for USMI, for the consecrated life present in Italy and in various parts of the world.

The Assembly opened on Wednesday 12 April, with the Lectio divina by Sr. Alessandra Casneda, Benedictine, on the passage from Jn 20:1-18, with the Eucharistic Celebration presided over by Card. João Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and with the five-year report of the President, Sr. Yvonne Reungoat, Mother General Emerita of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, in office since 5 April 2018.

In an interview, Mother Yvonne spoke of “a historic time of unprecedented challenges for society, for the Church, and for Consecrated Life” in which “we have tried to face the historical complexity with an attitude of faith, of hope, of trust, with an eye to the future. We have experienced the power of communion and the impulse to grow in the spirit of synodality” (cf. Avvenire).

On 13 April, the religious then lived the intense experience of the Audience with the Holy Father, who received them in the Sala Clementina, in the Vatican. Returning to the theme of the Assembly, he indicated “three steps taken by women and witnesses of the Risen One”, urging them to go with courage, to seek the Lord, listening to what He says today.  “Women are good for this, they know how to create new paths, they know how to give… They are courageous” to walk together, letting themselves be educated by the Spirit to a truly synodal mentality, in a process of conversion, and to be sowers of hope, different from simple optimism (Message).

At the end of the Audience, Mother Yvonne gave the Pope in the name of all, a Marian icon, a sign of acceptance of the mission entrusted by the Pope to the religious in an audience held in 2013, to be mothers. “Be mothers, like the figure of Mary, Mother of Mother Church. You cannot understand Mary without her motherhood; you cannot understand the Church without her motherhood; and you are an icon of Mary in the Church.”

On 14 April, the last day of the Assembly, after having invoked the Holy Spirit, Fr. Pier Luigi Nava, undersecretary for the Institutes of Consecrated Life, introduced the voting by recalling the identity of the National USMI. 218 Major Superiors were present and voting, representing about 50,000 religious present in Italy.

Sr. Micaela Monetti, Superior General of the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master, was elected as the new President of the National USMI. Born in Turin on 15 August 1955, she made her perpetual vows in Alba (CN) on 28 October 1984. After obtaining a baccalaureate in philosophy and theology at the Theological Institute of Northern Italy (Milan), she attended the Augustinianum Patristic Institute in Rome. She worked in youth, vocational, and liturgical ministry. She collaborated in the editorial staff of the liturgical magazine “Life in Christ and in the Church”. She was part of the inter-congregational team for the study of the “Unitary Project of the Pauline Family” and of the drafting team of the Rule of Life and the Directory of the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master. From 1999 to 2003, she was provincial councilor in Italy and from 2005 to 2017, and for two consecutive terms, she was a General Councilor.

Sr. M. Mabel Spagnuolo, Superior General of the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity of Don Orione, was elected Vice-President for the next five years.

“The gift I asked for is that the Lord may dispose of me. Now I realize that it is an Easter for me and for all of us, after these busy days. Thank you very much Mother Yvonne and the previous Presidency for the great work done and which we intend to continue. I was very struck by what the Pope told us in Wednesday’s audience, namely that we are sowers of hope. And thus, we return home and to our communities with these seeds of hope entrusted to us, which must be kept, cultivated, and made to grow together. It comforts me and gives me peace to know that we will work together. And together we will walk with the Spirit of God who has brought us this far.” These are the words of Sr. Micaela Monetti immediately after the election (cf. Avvenire).

To her, to the Vice-President, to the Council of the Presidency, and to the Areas of Service of USMI, the wish is to continue working in synodality in the service of female apostolic religious life “without losing the joy, daring, and dedication full of hope,” according to the encouragement of Pope Francis.

Photos: National USMI

1 COMMENT

  1. Ecco, la mia filiale, fraterna compiacenza per tutta la dedizione della cara Madre Yvonne durante il quinquienno di sua presidenza nell’ USMI. Ho letto la notizia sulla 70a Assemblea generale dell’Unione Superiori Maggiori d’Italia sulla newsletter online di Avvenire, ieri sera, subito dopo la conclusione della conferenza online presieduta da sr. Nilza per le FMA formatrici della CIAO.
    Ho voluto conoscere tale notizia dal nostro sito, questa mattina con gioia l’ho trovata qui piu’ completa. Grazie alle sorelle dell’ambito CS che l’hanno diffusa.
    Insieme a tutte le altre sorelle ringrazio il Signore per il cammino ecclesiale e di vita consacrata che Madre Yvonne ha potenziato con la sua testimoniante fedelta’ di vita e missionaria dedizione nella vita ecclesiale e salesiana.

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