S Korean Sister Mari Lucia Kim is the new superior general of the Daughters of St Paul
Leo XIV met the congregation today, gathered for the 12th General Chapter. Sister Mari Lucia Kim, 60, a former provincial superior in South Korea, will lead the Pauline Sisters until 2031. She brings the vitality of their presence in the Far East to the institute founded by Blessed Giacomo Alberione for the apostolate through the media. Pope Leo calls on the Sisters “to look up and immerse yourselves.”
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Leo XIV met this morning with the participants in the 12th General Chapter of the Daughters of St Paul, currently underway in Ariccia, a few kilometres from Rome.
In the Consistory Hall in the Vatican, the pontiff emphasised the participants’ origins "from all five continents,” which “expresses the universality of the Church."
In his address, he stressed that “the heart of your apostolate” is “To proclaim and spread the Word, spending your life for the cause of the Gospel following Jesus the Master and seeking ways, tools and languages so that everyone may know and follow the Lord”.
The new superior general elected yesterday by the Chapter hails from Asia. Sister Mari Lucia Kim, 60, comes from South Korea, where she served as provincial superior. She will lead the congregation until 2031, succeeding Sister Anna Caiazza, from Italy, elected at the 11th General Chapter in 2019.
“Let us pray for her," the pope said today. Sister Mari Lucia Kim, who was born in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, on 1 November 1965, has been a Daughter of St Paul since 25 January 1995. She has held various positions within the Pauline congregation, including general councillor for the 2013-2019 period.
The Daughters of St Paul arrived in South Korea in 1960. Fifteen years ago, when they celebrated their half-century of activity in the country, AsiaNews reported their great vitality in South Korea and their priorities, most notably spreading Catholic culture among young people through new media, with websites translated into several languages, and evangelisation in China.
“I am very grateful to God for our history in this land blessed by the blood of the martyrs,” they told AsiaNews. “The Korean Pauline sisters are known to be very deep. We are dedicated to study and are very creative in our apostolate.”
The latter includes the recent decision to publish, in Mandarin Chinese and Korean, a scrollytelling text (a special interactive multimedia presentation) dedicated to Sister Tecla Merlo, the first Superior General of the Daughters of St Paul who worked closely with Father Alberione.
The 12th Chapter focused on the theme “Impelled by the fire of the Spirit, listening to contemporary humanity, we communicate the Gospel of hope”, marking 110 years since the congregation’s founding.
“Your mission, throughout many countries of the world, and the witness you offer in the most varied contexts, also attest to what the Holy Spirit has accomplished, starting from the prophetic insights of the founder, Blessed Giacomo Alberione, implemented fearlessly by the co-founder, the Venerable Tecla Merlo,” Leo XIV said this morning.
The apostolate of the Daughters of St Paul, present in more than 50 countries “needs to be renewed and reinvigorated,” added the pope, who urged the nuns to share “two important attitudes: to look up and immerse yourselves.”
The first is needed so that the religious sisters are “impelled by the Holy Spirit,” Leo explained.
“The Spirit is the protagonist of the mission, the Spirit drives us forward, multiplying our talents, restoring us in our labours, warming our hearts when the joy of the Gospel grows cold, enlightening our steps and offering us creative insights”.
In so doing, it is possible to open “up new pathways for the communication of the faith.”
The second attitude the pope recommends is that “of immersing yourselves in, inside situations, because an upturned gaze is not an escape but, on the contrary, must help us to have the same compassion as Christ”.
Prompted by the Spirit, the way to immerse oneself “in history” is through “listening to humanity today.”
“Your presence, the proclamation of the Word, the media you use – recalling in particular the publishing house you run with such dedication – all this must be a welcoming embrace for the sufferings and hopes of the women and men to whom you are sent,” Leo explained.
“I know that the efforts to carry out these many activities are sometimes onerous,” he added, especially given the need for high professional qualifications, and the shortage in “personal and material strength” in one of the congregation's major charisms – i.e. communication, both legacy and digital publishing.
Still, “Let us not be discouraged!” Instead, let us “reflect on how to keep the charism alive, even though this may require courageous and demanding choices,” which need “careful discernment regarding the work linked to the apostolate”.
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12/02/2016 15:14
