Full opening address of the Global Assembly by the General Superior, Sr. Maria Eliane Azevedo da Silva

Dear Sisters

As pilgrims on the way, daughters of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, we begin our General Assembly grateful for the past, living the present with hope and entrusting the future of our Institute to the hands of God.

In the context of uncertainties and instability of the world in which we live, we are invited to remember the prophetic mystique of our founder. Mother Cabrini proclaimed the Gospel with an ardent heart, with words and actions, always attentive to the spiritual and missionary needs of her time. She was a far-sighted woman, who did not let herself be overcome by difficulties. The difficulties, on the contrary, strengthened her resilience and ability to look "beyond".

Thus, her missionary boldness grew in the transforming encounter with God. In that meeting she felt herself renewed to carry out the mission and bear witness to the Risen Jesus to the world.

The great gift of the Charism that the Spirit has given us through Mother Cabrini, and through many Sisters who have preceded us, is alive and active. In the present moment we are co-responsible and co-creators of this gift, fruit of the Spirit of God, on the way to the future.

Without this transforming encounter with the Risen Jesus, our actions certainly risk being disconnected from the Life-giving Spirit.

In this Jubilee time it seems appropriate to plant seeds of reconciliation and hope, so that our lives and places of mission are spaces of compassion, mercy, communion and healing of the wounds of the world.

At the XVIth General Chapter we made a commitment to be a "Global Community" and, in this assembly, we wish to celebrate, live, connect and communicate the Spirituality of the Sacred Heart and the Cabrinian Charism as women consecrated to God and sent to witness to Hope and Communion in the Church and in the world.

Sisters, it is my wish that we can put into every day practice the teaching of Mother Cabrini: "A bond unites us in the Heart of Jesus". In this way, our sense of belonging, listening, and fellowship will bear the fruits of God's Spirit in the world.

I thank each of you for your presence and participation in this meeting. This is a unique moment of the Holy Year 2025 for our Institute, for the Church and for the world.

United in the strength of prayer and life, I am and always will be your sister Eliane.

With these brief words I declare our assembly open.

With joy we now present a video of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a "Global Community".