Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - "It is true that as Consolata Missionaries you have lived the desire of your Founder: To make people know God's love," said Archbishop Peter Kairo of Nyeri (Kenya), at the celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the Consolata Missionary Sisters, in Mathari (Nyeri) this past January 30. According to a report from the CISA Agency in Nairobi, nearly 5,000 faithful attended the Mass in Thanksgiving.
Archbishop Kairo spoke of how the love of God had led the Sisters to leave their countries and come to Kenya to serve. The Archbishop of Nyeri placed the example of Sr. Irene Stefani, “Nyaatha,” whose tomb was blessed prior to the Mass, highlighting that her dedication to “bringing consolation to the sick, not only in Nyeri but also in Gikondi parish where she died.”
Archbishop Kairothen mentioned the living example of Sr. Graziella Paladin, age 81, a Sister that continues to carry out prison ministry.
Sr. Jacinta Theuri, the Regional Superior of the Consolata Sisters in Kenya in her speech termed the jubilee celebration a “special event that marks our rebirth, a new beginning. We have come 100 years, we are here today and we want to look forward to another 100 years. Consolata Missionary does not mean you are a sister, a priest or a brother, it means a person who has experienced the love of Christ deeply in his life.”
Sr. Jacinta took the opportunity on behalf of all the Consolata fathers, brother and sisters to ask for forgiveness to anybody who has been wronged in any way by the Consolata Missionaries. "Forgive us because we want to start the new century with this word of forgiveness. I think that when we learn to forgive, we become true carriers of consolation."
Also present at the occasion was the Nobel Peace Prize Laurate, Professor Wangari Maathai, a “product” of the Consolata Sisters. "My mission in life is to remind people that we are part of the environment. The mission of the Consolata Missionaries is to console and reconcile we need to console and reconcile with the environment,” Wangari said.
The Consolata Missionary Sisters is an International congregation founded on January 29, 1910 in Turin by Blessed Joseph Allamano (Ten years after the Consolata Fathers).They arrived in Kenya in 1913.
Today, the Congregation boasts of 746 members worldwide: 700 finally professed, 38 juniors and 8 novices. Presently, there are 80 sisters working in Kenya in seven dioceses - Mombasa, Nyeri, Marsabit, Maralal, Embu, Nairobi, and Meru. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 3/2/2010)
