A range of MSC stories – Australia, PNG, India
- 2020 MSC communication, visually.
The community that Zooms together, stays together. From Blackburn to Kew to Mont Albert to Northcote to Moonah.
Roger Purcell is speaking on the MSC Mission Office site, Mission Alive.
Chevalier Institute hosted the Webinar on “God and Science – can they co-exist”, featuring Krish Mathavan and Paul Compton. April 28th.
* RIP, Military Chaplain, PNG, EMMANUEL KOROI MSC
A small burial ceremony was held at the Chevalier Cemetery at MSC De Boisemenu Colledge, Bomana with the military officers, Families & friends with the MSC Brothers and Fathers. All gathered to bid farewell to Major Emmanuel Koroi MSC and to put him to rest.
Major Emmanuel Koroi is an MSC priest who dedicated his life as the chaplain of Defense force at Murray Barracks. He passed away few weeks ago due to long illness.
- The death of Sister Gottfrieda MSC, from Germany to Australia, 26 years, to India, 40 years
SISTER GOTTFRIEDA KLAAS MSC RIP
MSC Sisters, Fathers, Brothers and Friends, especially those who have grown up in India or have lived there, will appreciate that the end of an era has been reached with the death on Monday night of Sister Gottfrieda Klaas msc.
Then, last night, amid the heavy personal distancing restrictions currently in force in India, her Requiem Mass was celebrated in the famous Infant Jesus Church at Vivekanagar, Bangalore, next door to which is the Convent (Sneha Bhavan – the House of Love) that was effectively founded by Sister Gottfrieda more than forty years ago in the middle of what was then a large conglomeration of slums. In the live-streamed Mass last night, a surprising number of concelebrants and mourners gathered to commend Sister Gottfrieda’s soul to God, to honour her mortal remains and above all, to celebrate and thank God for her very long life’s achievements.
At 94 years of age she had lived 67 years of religious life as a Missionary Sister of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I first met Sister Gottfrieda in 1982 when I was asked by our Generalate to do a study of the advisability and utility (or otherwise) for the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart – male branch – to have a foundation in India. Sneha Bhavan was my base for 3 months, while I travelled around India investigating the possibilities. Ultimately, in the process of our coming into being and establishing our Congregation on a firm foundation in India, Sister Gottfrieda was a very knowledgeable and efficacious support. On my many return visits to India during the last 15 years I have never failed to visit the MSC Sisters and have watched as the debilitating stroke Sister suffered more than 10 years ago, wore down her commanding presence. In spite of her waning faculties, Sister always seemed to manage for me an acknowledging smile and a struggle to communicate, remnant from many years of collaboration.
Sister Gottfrieda Klaas was born in 1926 at Wippingen in North-West Germany, close to its border with the Netherlands. She joined the Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus at Hiltrup, Germany, at 24 years of age. Her spiritual formation had begun in a traditionally Catholic family, in her hometown and parish; then in a Congregation that had been founded only 50 years previously. Soon after her First Profession in 1953, she left as a missionary to Australia, where she lived and worked for 26 years. Sister acquired an Australian passport while working here.
In 1979 the relatively new Indian district of the MSC Sisters was slowly developing and one of the German pioneers, Sister Jacintha, a very experienced nun, who was guiding the young Indian aspirants, fell ill. Sister Gottfrieda arrived in a hurry from Australia with the intention of bringing Sister Jacintha back here for further treatment. However, Sister Gottfrieda was unable to realise this plan because Sister Jacintha rapidly got worse and died. I was told that it was a nightmare for the young pioneer Sisters: they felt they were left like sheep without a shepherd. Sister Gottfrieda, dynamic as she was then, felt the need and the urgency to stay on with the young Sisters. She so decided forthwith and in fact remained in India for the next 40 years. She worked tirelessly to give her congregation a solid foundation there. She refused to take holidays back in Germany for fear that she might not be able to get back into India because of its strict visa regulations.
Sister Gottfrieda spent most of her religious life far away from her family and native land, ministering in foreign countries for a total of 66 years. Throughout her life as an MSC Sister, Sister Gottfrieda displayed great commitment, patience and a strong faith. And I have witnessed her strength and endurance in the face of great physical disability, before she finally went to God two days ago. I have also witnessed the extraordinary care and affection shown her over so many years, especially by Sister Alis, as well as by all the other Sisters in the Sneha Bhavan Community.
As an Australian MSC and perhaps in some way representing our Province, I would like to convey condolences to Sister Gottfrieda’s surviving family members in Germany, several of whom I met over the years, as well as to the MSC Sisters in India, in Germany and here in Australia.
Sister Gottfrieda Klaas was an iconic Missionary Sister of the Most Sacred Heart. May she rest in peace.
Father Malcolm Fyfe msc
Vicar General Diocese of Darwin
