T he call to serve at the Pontifical San Paulo College Rome in 1977 under Propaganda Fide was a historic step into the European Continent, a befitting tribute to our Venerable Foundress who established our Foundation in Bayonne France in 1868.
The invitation for mission in Rome was extended by late Cardinal Duraisamy Simon Lourdasamy at that time the Bishop and Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches to our late Superior General - Mother Mary Angela. Sister Patricia the late Superior General of the Poor Sisters of our Lady was instrumental in bringing us to Rome. It was a golden opportunity to carry out our mission envisioned by our beloved Foundress and our Charism to serve and pray for priest.
The pioneers Sr Mary Isabel as superior and the community comprising of Srs Flora, Rosalina, Kilda, Bibiana, Joachim, Nancy, Celestina, Beatrice and Felita. They arrived on on August 6, 1977 and were warmly welcomed by Fr Tong the Vice Rector. This Chinese prelate was a lifelong friend, guide, protector and mentor to the CCR’s down the decades. The very same evening His Eminence, Cardinal Lourdasamy celebrated mass with an appropriate homily on the relevance of mission. We treasure his advice, visits and encouragement looking up to him as our patron. The Italian Sisters who were a part of the staff at Sun Paulo graciously handed over their responsibilities to us, the newly appointed Indians.
On September 10, 1977
The formal reopening of the college for a priest, His Eminence, Cardinal A. Rossi, Prefect of the Congregation inaugurated the CCR mission with Holy Mass, addressing the Sister in Italian. Rev. Fr. Ronchi the Rector offered a translation stating we had been called by Mother Church to offer ourselves as missionaries to the world. The Sisters were assured of ecclesiastical support to this new venture.
In course of time there were new arrivals swelling the total to 17. Three of them were scholars at Regina Mundi. In 1980 Sr M Laurentia was awarded for her thesis on the topic of St. Teresa of Avila.
On January 24, 1981
Our Sisters were privileged to be part of a solemn Eucharistic Celebration of His Holiness, St. Pope John Paul II and have a special audience with our beloved Pope.
The bond between Rector, Priest and Sister strength and over the years with the with occasional setbacks. There were changes introduce by Propaganda Fedi in the catering and other field of Administration. Due to paucity of funds the number two were reduced. In in 2003, Cardinal Sepe Crescenzio, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of people requested two Sisters to help the Franciscan Sisters who were taking care of the Catechists for one year.
T he sesquicentennial celebration of the two Congregations of Venerable Mother Veronica on the memorable pilgrimage to France - Bayonne and Pau, Portugal and Fatima and ultimately to Rome had memorable meet at Collegio San Giuseppe - the joys union and mingling of the CCR’s and AC’s was a unique blessing of our beloved Foundress. The birthday celebration of Mother Mary Frances was a memorable event of the two daughters celebrating the legacy of 150 years individual identities and similar charism. The echoes of laughter and fun, sharing and caring will always be treasured as the milestone.
C ollegio San Paulo holds a place of pride in our annals. Many of the priests recall with gratitude and love the dedicated service of our Sisters. To date many of the alumi are now bishops, archbishops and even Cardinals. Having witness the laudable presence of the CCR’s have welcomed us to serve in their respective dioceses.
