More than 70 years of strengthening children and enabling healthcare.
The Congregatio Jesu sisters arrived in Zimbabwe from Mainz, in Germany, in March 1951. It was thanks to the initiative, negotiations and sacrifices of Mother Edelburga and her desire to take an active part in the Mission apostolate. The decision was taken after the horrors of the Second World War.
Zimbabwe has been a Region since 1998 and currently has 47 members, of whom 30 are finally professed sisters and 17 temporary professed. Currently there are 4 novices and 2 candidates as well.
The apostolic mission is carried out through education, health and parish ministry. To meet the health needs of the people, they run St. Joseph’s Clinic, St Padre Pio Clinic and a dispensary. They work at the level of pre-school and primary school, in CJ owned institutions or in collaboration with the diocese or with the Jesuits. Besides formal education the sisters also run the Mary Ward Children’s Home in Amaveni and they are also responsible for a girls’ hostel. One sister is also a part-time lecturer at a Jesuit university. The sisters recently realised the big dream of offering education also at Secondary School level, as Mary Ward High School opened its doors to the first fifty students in early 2020, in the middle of the pandemic.
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.
