| 29 September, 2022
At the end of last August, the Congregatio Jesu elected the German Veronica Fuhrmann as the new Superior General. She will lead the congregation for the next nine years.
It is an international congregation of some 1,400 sisters in twenty-four countries spread over four continents. Its international center is in Rome. They were founded by the English Venerable Mary Ward in 1609 as an institute of apostolic nuns without closure.
The new superior, Veronica Fuhrmann, has granted an interview to Katholisch.de where it is declared favorable to the ordination of women.
To the question about “the vocation of women to the priesthood”, the religious affirms that “The question of the female priesthood, or of the ministries of women in the Church in general, is a burning issue that certainly has not yet been given a definitive answer. There is still a search process and I can understand very well that women feel this vocation in themselves and suffer a lot for not being admitted to ordinations or for not being able to take on certain offices. It is a suffering that is simply there”, says Sister Veronica, thus contradicting John Paul II who definitively closed the debate in the Church on the ordination of women.
The new superior of this congregation adds that “I would be happy if we could take steps towards change. That’s certainly not a huge jump. It will be many small steps. But I wish action would actually be taken.” Sister Veronica sees no impediment to the ordination of women “beyond a long tradition.”
What is the Congregatio Jesu?
They state on their website that their Ignatian spirituality calls them to be: «Women with an apostolic life within the Church; Said apostolate must be based on the promotion of faith through justice; Available to go where the need is greatest; Contemplatives in action”.
Following the illumination of 1611 to “take the same from the Company” (of Jesus), Mary Ward never doubted that the name of her institute should be “Jesus.” However, she was unable to give her new foundation an official name because the Church never gave it the recognition she sought. Among the sisters, they spoke of “the companions” and “ours.” Her opponents and detractors called them “Jesuits” and “galloping girls.” By custom, the sisters were identified simply as “English Ladies,” a description still used in some places.
Half a century after Mary Ward’s death, the sisters adopted the Marian title: “The Institute of Mary.” Shortly after it was changed to “Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” It was under this title that the Church approved the institute in 1877, and at the unfinished Union Congress of 1900 all branches of Mary Ward’s institute accepted this as the official ecclesiastical title.
The decision to adopt the name ‘Congregatio Jesu’ was made at the General Congregation of 2002, when the Ignatian Constitutions were adopted ‘ad maximum’. After nearly 400 years, Mary Ward’s founding vision was finally realized.
The name “Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary” is preserved by the Loreto branch for its Institute.
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The new superior of Congregatio Jesu positions herself in favor of the female priesthood