Sr. Nadia Coppa, president of the women's International Union of Superiors General, speaks to reporters at the presentation of the working document for the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican press office June 20. (CNS/Lola Gomez)
Changes in congregational leadership have affected the leadership of the International Union of Superiors General, or UISG, with Sr. Mary Barron, the Superior General of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles, assuming the position of president.
In a Sept. 19 announcement, UISG said that Barron, an Irish sister who had been named vice president beginning in May 2022, will remain as president until the next UISG assembly in May 2025. She assumed the position of president on Sept. 4.
Barron succeeds Sr. Nadia Coppa, an Adorers of the Blood of Christ. In a Sept. 19 statement, UISG said, "Several General Chapters held in recent months resulted in leadership changes which directly affected the UISG. In accordance with the UISG statutes, the president of UISG must be a Superior General of a member congregation."
In an email to Global Sisters Report, Sr. Patricia Murray, UISG executive secretary, confirmed that there has been a change of leadership in Coppa's congregation, with Sr. Maria Hughes from the United States becoming the new superior general of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ. The congregation had earlier announced the change.
Sr. Mary Barron, right, superior general of the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles, speaks as superiors of women's religious orders meet for the plenary assembly of the International Union of Superior Generals in Rome May 3, 2022. Also pictured are Loreto Sr. Patricia Murray, left, executive secretary of the union, and Sr. Jolanta Kafka, then-president of the union and general superior of the Claretian Missionary Sisters. (CNS/Paul Haring)
Sr. Graciela Francovig, superior general of the Hijas de Jesús will now become vice president of UISG. An Argentine sister, she has extensive mission experience throughout Latin America.
In the announcement, Rome-based UISG said it expressed "our sincere gratitude and appreciation to Sr. Nadia Coppa for her commitment and dedication during her time as president of UISG."
In a statement accompanying the announcement, Barron, whose mission work has included time in Tanzania, called it a great honor to be named as UISG "at this particular moment in time" saying as female religious, "we are growing in our awareness of the need for this interconnected global sisterhood that lives deep solidarity and communion, collaborating with and furthering the mission of God in the world, particularly among those peoples who are often most forgotten by societies."
Barron said as the global church prepares for the upcoming world-wide synod in Rome, synodality ''is particularly strong and important for consecrated life at this time."
"We, the members of UISG, must keep up the momentum and play our part, continuing the journey at all levels, opening ourselves to this radical call of the Spirit, to a renewal of our understanding of what it is to be the people of God, the Church in our day, collaborating in bringing to fruition God's dream for our world."
UISG has posted a short video glossary explaining some of the key terms related to the upcoming synod in Rome. It can be accessed here.
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Anti-trafficking group plans 10th anniversary conference
U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking will hold its annual conference Sept. 28-30 in Skokie, Illinois, with the theme "Breaking Barriers to End Human Trafficking."
The event will be highlighted by a 10th anniversary celebration and an announcement of a change of name for the national network.
Workshops will tackle such themes as "sextortion," child labor and trauma-informed care. A legal panel is planned, as is an annual awards dinner.
"This year's conference marks a 10-year journey for USCSAHT, which started as an inspiration and grew into a nationwide movement that spurred Catholic sisters across the United States into action," the network said in an announcement released Aug. 30 and Sept. 18.
USCSAHT was formed in 2013 and the founding group of Catholic sisters "created a national network of resources and support that includes many different congregations of women religious and mission-aligned partners. Today, this member-based organization has grown to include more than 115 congregations and another 100-plus individuals and organizations spread throughout the United States."
The U.S.-based USCSAHT is also a member of Talitha Kum, the international network of consecrated life working to end human trafficking.
Two Sisters of the Precious Blood in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament in the Motherhouse chapel in Dayton, Ohio, circa 1955. (Courtesy of CPPS Archives, Sisters of the Precious Blood, Dayton, Ohio)
Sisters of the Precious Blood celebrate 100 years in Dayton, Ohio
The Sisters of the Precious Blood, an apostolic Catholic women's religious congregation, are celebrating a century of presence, since 1923, at their home in the Salem Heights district of Dayton, Ohio.
A celebration Mass will be held 2 p.m, Oct. 1, at Precious Blood Catholic Church in Dayton.
In announcement of the celebration, the congregation said that "Over the past century, Sisters of the Precious Blood have been active in a variety of ministries in the Dayton area, including education, parish ministry, food and domestic service, health care and social justice." The announcement noted that the Precious Blood Sisters also in Chile and Guatemala, as well as other locales in the United States.
"For over 100 years, the Sisters of the Precious Blood have been a presence in the Dayton community. As the congregation looks to the future, it remains committed to being a part of the fabric of the community, collaborating with the city and local agencies to serve wherever Sisters are needed," Sarah Aisenbrey, archivist for the Sisters of the Precious Blood, said in a statement.
The religious community first arrived in the U.S. in 1844, when three sisters came to northern Ohio to minister to the German Catholic immigrants of the area, the announcement said. For nearly 80 years, the mother house was located in Maria Stein, in Mercer County.
But by the early 1920s, Mother Emma Nunlist, the Mother General of the Sisters of the Precious Blood, "felt that the Sisters needed to be closer to the amenities the city of Dayton could provide, including health care and educational facilities," the announcement said. "She also thought that being close to a more populated city would allow the Sisters to find more volunteers to help with perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, a hallmark of the Sisters' lived vocation since their founding."
Nunlist purchased 75 acres of what was then farmland north of Dayton and in August 1923, the sisters moved to their new motherhouse.
The Sisters of the Precious Blood were founded in Switzerland in 1834 by Sr. Maria Anna Brunner.
