The 20th General Chapter of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary opened Wednesday, June 27, 2001.

Opening Address

Catherine Dolan gave her opening address as part of a very reverent and prayerful ritual.

"I want to welcome you all with the final words of the hymn we have just sung: Que todas tenham Vida—that all may have Life! May our coming together in this chapter be a means of life for ourselves gathered here and for all those who are depending on us for life in this new millennium.

"We are surrounded here by symbols of life, in words and music, as in the hymn, in the striking art around us, in the living water which will be constantly with us, reminding us of God's ongoing gift of life, and in our logo which has accompanied us in our preparation and will be here with us throughout the chapter. Most of all we have the life and energy in this room, the powerful energy of women, of many cultures, of all ages, with the same charism and desire to promote life. How are we going to combine this energy and harness it in order to move us forward into the future? . . ."

Catherine's talk ended with an invitation to enjoy a moment of reflection aided by a powerful presentation of the faces and hands of women of many different cultures: women sent to be a living presence of God, tenderness and mercy in our wounded world.

The Fountain

At the front of the chapter room there is a small fountain with running water, built with small stones brought from each province.

Water brought from the well at the Mother House was added to the fountain, which will be a focus of many rituals during the Chapter.

All the sisters in the room, chapter members and staff, blessed the water, sign of God's fertile and abundant Life, praying that we can share it and receive from it the strength to risk. As the words of Ezechial.`"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you" were read, Catherine, Rosinha, Marianne, and Veronica sprinkled all present.

Then each group—General Council, province delegations, facilitators, and staff—was called forth to receive a bowl of water, "sign of the torrents of Life which spring from each of you for all our Institute, for all the Universe," and blessed with the words of Gailhac, "May God, who is full of goodness, bless you and fill you with graces."

The Sharing Wall

Each province has been given a space, in a corridor or the tea room, to put up a sharing wall. This wall is filled with photos—of individual sisters, of communities, of ministries, of challenges—representing the ways in which the province has responded to the call of the General Chapter of 1995.

Province Reports

Many reports are scheduled during the first week of the Chapter, so that the chapter members can get to know the individual provinces and the Institute as a whole.

In the afternoon, Western American and Eastern American Provinces gave their reports, beginning with a presentation in the chapter room.

The Western American Province focused on their Provincial Chapter conclusion that encourages the use of communication technology in the service of unity. They gave an overview of the purpose and content of the interprovincial Eastern American / Western American web site. They then explained the steps the province is taking to help all the sisters become comfortable using computers and e-mail.

The Eastern American Province spoke of five things begun since the last General Chapter: a social service center serving a mainly immigrant population in Sleepy Hollow, New York; the efforts to reconnect with former sisters and alumnae; the work with refugees through Centro Astalli in Rome, Italy; the committee work concerning the use of the properties, including the retirement house, in Tarrytown, New York; and the provincial chapter conclusions regarding financial support of ministries, new venues of direct service with materially poor people, and the empowerment of women.

At the conclusion of these presentations, everyone moved to the sharing wall in the corridor.

Using the photographs on the wall, delegates from the Eastern American Province pointed out the many faces of the province, a province of sisters of many different nationalities. Sisters of the province serve in many countries, as "Builders of Community Spirit" in parishes, as chaplains in hospitals and universities, retreat directors; as "Builders of Justice" serving with the poor and with immigrants as lawyers, advocates for change, providers of social services; and as "Builders of the Future" in elementary and secondary schools, in colleges and universities.

Delegates from the Western American Province spoke of ways in which the province has responded to the 1995 General Chapter mandates concerning quality of community life, new life in the Institute, and transformation of relationships. The multicultural reality of the province is very important. This is recognized by including sisters from both Mexico and the United States on the provincial council and by having a formation program, included a formation director and a vocation director in each country. The province has worked at transforming relationships on many levels. On a global level, Veronica Brand, Rosa de Lima Pereira, and Marjorie Keenan (EAP) have been invited to speak on world debt at an Archdiocesan conference and a province meeting. There is a growing awareness of our relationship to the earth and the need for an eco-spirituality. In Mexico, one of the sisters has a doctorate in alternative medicine and in the United States, one of the sisters works with people in a retreat setting to develop attitudes of care and stewardship of the earth.

At the end of this first day, Cardinal Etchegaray celebrated litugy. Saying that religious are the evangelical memory of the people of God, he challenged us, as we begin this Chapter, to take the risk, as Pere Gailhac did in his day, to be the founders of religious life in our day.