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From left, Mother Barbara Johnson, FSE, Vicar General; Karin Siobhan Pasquale, Mother Miriam Seiferman, FSE, Mother General; and Mother Shaun Vergauwen, FSE, Mother Co-foundress. MERIDEN, CT (11-11-2022) - The Franciscan Motherhouse Community of Sisters, Brothers and Apprentices witnessed Mrs. Karin Pasquale of Watertown, Connecticut, make a life commitment to Apprenticeship at the Chapel of St. John on the evening of November 11, 2022. Karin's husband, Chris, and their children were present for the ceremony. Franciscan Apprenticeship is a life dedication of lay [...]

MERIDEN/CHESHIRE, CT (10-09-2022) - The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist in collaboration with the Cheshire Police Department hosted a neighborhood social hour and prayer vigil at the Franciscan Life Center campus on the National Faith & Blue Weekend. Faith & Blue is a national organization dedicated to facilitating positive relationships among law enforcement professionals and local residents, businesses and community groups through the connections of faith-based organizations. Sister Barbara Johnson, FSE, Executive Director of Franciscan Life Center worked with Chief of Police Neil Dryfe, Sergeant Tracy Gonzalez and [...]

BRIDAL VEIL, OR (09-28-2022) - The Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample, Archbishop of Portland, anointed the new altar at the St. Michael Chapel of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist in Bridal Veil on September 18, 2022. The sacred ritual of anointing sets aside the structure for one purpose, the celebration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The anointed item is no longer a piece of furniture but a sacred table to be reverenced and respected. The ceremony of anointing included the Archbishop's pouring of [...]

MERIDEN, CT (08-23-2022) - Swiss Guard Lt. Urs Breitenmoser, himself a basketball player, was enthused when he met the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist at the Vatican and found out that their motherhouse is in Connecticut USA, the "Home of the Huskies." He is an ardent follower of UConn Coach Jim Calhoun and the Huskies team. Mother Shaun Vergauwen, Mother General at the time, and a good friend of the coach, shared Urs' interest with the coach, so on her next visit to Rome, she [...]

ROME (07-13-2022) - Pope Francis announced today his appointment of Sister Raffaella Petrini, FSE to the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops, along with Sister Yvonne Reungoat, F.M.A., former Superior General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, and Dr. Maria Lia Zervino, President of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations. Sister Raffaella serves as the Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State, appointed by Pope Francis on November 4, 2021. These three appointees are the first women to be named to the [...]

ROME (06-30-2022) - Sister Raffaella Petrini, FSE and Sister Damien Marie Savino, FSE were invited experts at the tenth international colloquium of the International Association of Catholic Bioethics in Rome June 26-29, 2022. The Sisters' topic was "a Christian understanding of ecology and health: overcoming oversights and incorporating new insights." Their approach was to bring the medical model of One Health, the ecological model of Social-Ecological Systems theory, and Catholic social teaching into conversation in order to envision new bioethical frameworks for responding to global pandemics and other health [...]