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Sister Janet Gottschalk spent 10 days in January in Venezuela as part of a joint Maryknoll/Medical Mission Sisters delegation investigating the current crisis in this country. They met with President Hugo Chavez; the Vice President; the deputy U.S. ambassador; various labor leaders; church and human rights groups; and numerous Christian communities. During the visit, President Chavez signed all the appropriate permissions for a housing project (assisted by Medical Mission Sisters' funding) that our Sister Maria Emma Panizales, who lives in Caracas, has been working on. "All in all, it was an extraordinary visit to a complicated country in which there is great excitement and hope among the poor," Sister Janet said. The delegation will be sharing their findings with Archbishop Montino at the Pontificial Justice and Peace Council, U.S. leaders in Washington, D.C., and various ecumenical groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Our Sister-Doctor M. Benedict Young, 85, who was born and raised in Philadelphia, passed away on February 17, 2004, at Holy Redeemer Infirmary, Huntingdon Valley, PA. In her 62 years of religious life, Sister Benedict served as medical director, administrator and local superior in Medical Mission Sisters' Holy Family Hospitals in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and South Vietnam. From 1957 - 1965 she served (as Mother Benedict) as Provincial Superior of the Sisters' American Pro-Province, headquartered in Fox Chase, with missions extending to four continents. In the early 1970s she studied psychiatry at Cornell University, then practiced psychiatry for over 20 years in Washington, DC; Las Cruces, NM; San Diego, Atascadero and San Jose, California; and Tucson, Arizona. We are grateful for her life of dedication and service, and we pray for the peaceful repose of her soul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sister Fidelis Abad Santos, who shares life with a community of the blind and their families in Quezon City in the Philippines, tells of the excitement they all experienced when visited by Bishop Julio X. Labayen of the Diocese of Infanta, Quezon. "He spent the whole morning sharing reflections, answering their questions in dialogue with them. It was the first time they had met a Bishop, up close and personal," she explains. "Bishop Labayen commented: they are a seemingly insignificant community of 'differently-abled' with a very important, relevant message to the world ... a community becoming a 'Church of the Poor.' " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Fourth World Social Forum, held in Mumbai, India, from January 16 - 21, 2004, was attended by 100,000 people from 130 countries, including 24 Medical Mission Sisters. The progressive Muslim scholar, Mr. Asghar Ali Engineer, spoke on the importance of women's dignity and equality. "Where there is no equality for women, peace cannot be achieved," he said. "If women in society do not have equal rights, the whole society is sick." The World Social Forum is committed to building a society centered on the human person, and opposed to domination by any form of imperialism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Medical Mission Sisters in Germany find there are more women from various parts of the country interested in their mission and spirituality, and wishing to explore either becoming a Sister, or becoming an Associate. A gathering held in Frankfurt, at the close of 2003, gave these women a chance to get to know each other, and to meet more of our Sisters. In East Africa, we also are seeing more women showing an interest in Medical Mission Sisters. 3 women entered the Pre-Candidacy Program in January, 2004. From Techiman, Ghana, in West Africa, our Sisters report, "One by one, the young women come for live-ins, or for 'come and see' programs ... our doors are open to share our life, and to provide an experience of what it means to be companions of Jesus the healer in community." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The "Season of Non-violence" is the period of 64 days between the memorial anniversaries of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatmas Gandhi. Sister Mary T. Legge, SSJ, reports on SistersOnline that she attended a packed session at the U.N. in New York with the theme of "Non-violence in our Schools, Non-violence in our World." Many students from the New York City public schools participated in the session. Sister Mary shared excerpts from the speakers, such as, "We must stop recycling our anger. We must be the change we want ... seeking not to overpower, but to empower ourselves and others." As a follow-up, Sister Mary suggested this action step: "Be the peace today that the world needs so badly!"
February 15,
2004
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