The sisters in Albania have founded “Mary Ward Loreto” to fight human trafficking. They are also active in social and pastoral ministries.
When Sister Imelda Poole moved to Tirana in 2005, she soon encountered families of Roma communities living in shanty towns near the railway station, close by to where she lives.
Roma communities originated in India many hundreds of years ago and are considered the poorest of the poor and the most abandoned peoples in eastern Europe.
Nearly all Roma communities in Albania live in shanty-like situations in the towns and especially Tirana.Tirana now has a third of the population of Albania, and is still growing.
Sr Imelda Poole writes:
“Albania, where I have been on mission against human trafficking for 16 years, is faced with an explosion of poverty following a brutal earthquake in 2019. Mary Ward Loreto fulfils the mission, in collaboration with survivors, for emergency relief, rescue, reintegration and the rehabilitation of exploited and abused people. Our six advice and service centres work increasingly on and offline with new and multiple crisis.
The nature of the mission means that I am also part of cross border communities online, working with survivors and colleagues in RENATE, across Europe and with MSA in the UK, to attempt to break the chain of Human Trafficking”.
We are an international multicultural congregation of around 1,800 sisters present in more than 40 countries around the globe. Founded in 1609 by the Venerable Mary Ward, we are a group of unenclosed apostolic religious women, rooted in the Ignatian Spirituality.
We are working in different areas and projects – not out of ourselves, but because we allow ourselves to be sent by God. We form our sisters to be mobile and available, willing to go wherever they are sent. We expect them to strive, like Mary Ward, to have that inner freedom to respond to the call to leave all and follow Christ with passion and compassion.
“Vocation” – a word that tastes of MORE, of what Saint Ignatius of Loyola called “THE MAGIS”: Longing, meaning, fullness of life, a task and the experience of being needed. It sounds like someone who is calling me personally and with whom I can give my life a unique shape.
People all over the world are inspired and enthusiastic about Mary Ward and her way of following Jesus. There are different ways to join our network and become part of the wider Mary Ward Family.
Mary Ward once said: “I listened to God’s deep dream for me and felt a longing to respond.”
In this spirit, we invite you to pray with us. We offer a variety of prayers and material for reflection.
