Month: April 2025

Sr Gemma Simmonds CJ gave an interview for the BBC describing her feelings on the passing of Pope Francis. You can listen to her statements and reminiscence here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172zss0x7crgl1 (starting at 9:06 and more often during the hour)

I thank Pope Francis for his commitment to creation, especially for the encyclical “Laudato si”. It was received far beyond the Church. It has motivated me to respond to the ‘cry of the poor’ and the ‘cry of the earth’ with my commitment to sustainability, especially climate justice.’ Sr Nathalie Korf CJ

First, I greatly appreciate the fact that he really understood his ministry as a ministry. He expressly renounced privileges and accepted a lot of criticism or malice in return. Then I was impressed by the fact that he tried to bring people and groups of people together in a genuine dialogue. He invited people to

‘I was in St Peter’s Square on the day of his election. It was a long wait in cold and rainy weather. But then the white smoke finally appeared. The crowd was electrified. When the name Jorge Bergoglio was mentioned, there was great perplexity. Everyone was searching their mobile phones. Even the reporter standing next

From Pope Francis’ visit to Hungary, I would like to highlight a few surprises that touched so many people. We, the Hungarian CJ sisters, had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis in St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest on the day of his arrival, 28 April 2023. Pope Francis had mentioned to the preparation team several

In 2014, Pope Francis visited South Korea, and we remember him for his warmth towards religious, lay people, and the vulnerable. We especially remember him for meeting with the bereaved families, including one CJ member who lost a nephew among the 300 students who died in the 2014 Seoul ferry disaster.  At the time, the

During his visit to Slovakia, Pope Francis stopped briefly at the Retret House in Prešov and greeted the Jesuit brothers, all the staff and volunteers who were in the house at the time. Among the volunteers were four of our sisters – Sr. Fides, sr. Joachima, sr. Kinga and sr. Anežka. The sisters had a

His presence and accompaniment have been fundamental during my formation, although his external appearance made me feel a bit scared, his words and gestures inspired me and accompanied me throughout my religious life. Today I can say that I am deeply grateful for all that I have received from him. He was for a while

Sr. María Antonia Minig C.J: Jorge Mario Bergoglio SJ, who at that time was Rector of the Colegio Máximo in San Miguel, accepted and accompanied us in our first Regional Congregation. For this occasion, he wrote three articles on Mary Ward and Ignatian spirituality, for three days of Spiritual Exercises and reflection (which were later