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“Extremely fruitful”: Pauline Sister on Society’s 25-Year-Old Mission in Angola

A procession of Pious Society of the Daughters of St. Paul (FSP/Pauline Sisters) in Angola during their Silver Jubilee celebration in Luanda. Credit: Pauline Sisters in Angola
ACI Africa Staff

By ACI Africa Staff

Luanda, 14 January, 2024 / 8:47 pm (ACI Africa).

The service of the members of the Pious Society of the Daughters of St. Paul (FSP/Pauline Sisters) in Angola for the last 25 years has been “extremely fruitful”, a member of the Society has said.

Blessed James Alberione founded FSP members in Italy in 1915 with the mission “to be at the service of evangelisation through the means of social communications”, and to do “the charity of the truth”.

In an interview with ACI Africa on January 10, three days after the Silver Jubilee celebration of the presence of Pauline Sisters in Angola, Sr. Fatima Lobato said, “These 25 years were extremely fruitful for the Pauline sisters in Angola.”

Sr. Fatima added that the foundation of FSP members in Angola that was realized “on the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord”, 6 January 1999, was preceded by “various attempts”, some Pauline Sisters having visited “this Angolan soil with the aim of opening a house”.

The leadership of the Church in Angola had “always desired the Pauline charism”, the Angolan-born FSP member said about the Society, whose members engage the means of social communication “to live and give Jesus Christ to the world as the Way, the Truth, and the Life” in the spirit of St Paul the Apostle.

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“Amidst the fire of weapons, the Sisters were called to set Angola on fire with the Word of God,” she said in reference to the three pioneer FSP members in Angola, Italian-born Sr. Maria de Carli, Brazilian-born Sr. Catarina Boff, both of Blessed memory.

She added that while the two have passed on, Sr. Marlise Heckler “continues in Angola as a tireless missionary.”

Sr. Lobato used the image of a garden to describe the “fruitful” presence of FSP members in Angola for the last 25 years. “The seed sprouted, the tree grew, and the fruits have ripened,” Sr. Fatima told ACI Africa.

She went on to highlight the FSP members in the Southern African nation, saying, “Currently Angola has four native Sisters, two Novices, one Postulant, and nine Aspirants. We are only in Luanda, the capital city of Angola, but with missionary and vocational trips, we reach the entire country. So almost all of Angola knows the Pauline sisters due to our annual visits to the entire country.”

Sr. Fatima expressed optimism about the continued presence of FSP members in Angola, saying “the future will continue to be fruitful”.

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She recalled the January 7 Silver Jubilee celebration, and described the Thanksgiving Mass as having accorded the FSP members in Angola an occasion “to sing the Magnificat and also Miserere for our insufficiency in doing the will of God.”

“The message we expressed to God, to the Church and to the people was one of gratitude to God for his faithfulness and presence; also, gratitude to the people of Angola for accepting the Pauline charism,” Sr. Fatima told ACI Africa.

The Angolan-born FSP member added, “It is 25 years of service and evangelization, putting all our gifts and talents at the service of the people for the glory of God.”

“May the Lord continue to guide us and send us good and holy vocations,” Sr. Fatima implored.

We apologize for the error in the initial version of this story, in which our interview with Sr. Fatima Lobato was attributed to FSP Superior General, Sr. Anna Caiazza.

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ACI Africa Staff

ACI Africa was founded in 2019. We provide free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Catholic Church in Africa, giving particular emphasis to the words of the Holy Father and happenings of the Holy See, to any person with access to the internet. ACI Africa is proud to offer free access to its news items to Catholic dioceses, parishes, and websites, in order to increase awareness of the activities of the universal Church and to foster a sense of Catholic thought and culture in the life of every Catholic.

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