Sisters hold jubilee symposium

The National Weekender
COVER STORY
SSpS Jubilee Symposium:2024
Life blessed, broken and shared.
How have we enriched life?
Sr Ingeburg Pircher, one of the founding SSpS Sisters of Malala High School praying in the SSpS chapel in Alexishafen, Madang.

By WENCESLAUS MAGUN
ON Wednesday, April 10, 2024, from 8am to 4.30pm the Missionary Servants Sisters of the Holy Spirit (SSpS) held their jubilee symposium at the Divine Word University (DWU), Madang.
The theme for this symposium was, “Life blessed, broken, and shared. How have we enriched life?”
“The Ssymposium was dedicated to the life of the SSpS Sisters’ life and mission in PNG.
This religious international congregation has 2,780 sisters serving in 49 countries in the world today,” said Sister Miriam Angelike Altenhofen, the SSpS congregational leader.
Guests and the Divine Word Missionaries or Sosietas Verbi Divini (SVDs) and SSpS were welcomed by Madang students, as the German flag was brought in to represent the first SSpS Sisters who arrived in Papua New Guinea from Germany.
This was followed by a general welcome by David Wapar, the master of ceremony. Fr Vincent Agbeyome, SVD, the DWU Chaplin and Director of Mission and Identity opened the symposium with an opening prayer.
Sr Florence Utah, PNG Provincial and DWU Council delivered her welcome address based on the 125 years of missionary activity by the Servants Sisters of the Holy Spirit. The keynote speech was delivered by Sr Mariam Angelike Altenhofen.
The symposium continued from then on with different sessions. In Session 1 on Education, a presentation was made on SVD-SSpS collaboration in higher education (CHS, DWI, DWU) by Dr Fr. Jose Orathinkal, Provincial of SVD, DWU Council. This was followed by a presentation on Women in the service of mission and education by Professor Iwona Kolodziejcki, DWU Vice President for Academic Affairs.
The talk on the SSpS holistic approach to education was presented by Associate Professor, Sr Mariam Dlugosz, SSpS PNG Assistant Provincial, DWU Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
This was followed by a talk on Care and welfare for DWU female students by Sr Elizabeth Gilu, SSpS, Dean, DWU female residential students.
Presenters for Session 2 on Health Services after the coffee break at St. John Paul II Hall included Sr Jadwiga Faliszek, CEO, Catholic Church Health Services who talked on Enriching life through health services. Professor Br Jerry Kuzma, SVD, HOD of MBBS Department, DWU, and Sr Dorothy Piechota, SSpS, OIC of Yampu Health Centre (Enga) talked on SVD-SSpS Ccollaboration in the field of health services.
The next topic was “Sleeping with the enemy”.
The SSpS efforts to enrich life in a Christian way was presented by Dr Fr Geovanne Bustos, DWU Social and Religious Studies Department, followed by a presentation on SSpS in health services (Sepik) from the perspective of a laity by Dr Alphonse Aime – DWU, Department of Communication Arts.
The final speaker for that session was Professor Fr Phillip Gibbs, SVD, OBE, President of DWU. He gave a talk on Care for the victims of ‘sanguma’ accusations.
After lunch, Session 3 on Other Apostolate, was led by Fr Joseph Maciolek, SVD, Archivist. Fr Jozef talked on fascinating moments from the pages of SSpS-SVD PNG Chronicle. This was followed by a talk on The first steps in the PNG mission by Professor Fr. Patrick Gesch, SVD, HOD of the PGIS Department, DWU.
Sr Anna Damas, SSpS, (via Zoom) gave a talk about Reading the Bible in PNG context, and the final speaker for that session Mr. Patrick Matbob HOD of CA Department DWU talked on SSpS collaboration with the laity in communication/media.
In Session 4 on Life broken but shared was led by Professor Fr Paul Steffen, SVD Pontifical on zoom from Urbanianum University (Rome). He talked on Life broken but shared: Experiences from World War II.
This was followed by a talk on Empowered by the Holy Spirit, sent out to the world by PNG SSpS Sisters in mission to the world by Sr Veronica Sari, SSpS teacher and student of MA of Social Work, Australia (via Zoom).
After the afternoon tea break, Prof Fr Phillip Gibbs, facilitated the Symposium’s panel discussion. The closing and final remarks were made by Associate Professor Sr Mariam Dlugosz, SSpS Provincial Assistant.

Sr Florence Utah with a copy of the book, ‘Selfless’ at the SSpS convent in Alexishafen, Madang.

In the beginning
The seed of this ministry began when Bishop Comboni, Vicar Apostolic of Central Africa saw the pastoral need for Sisters in Africa and asked Fr Arnold Janssen (founder of SVD, now Saint), to establish a missionary congregation of sisters. This happened only two years after the blessings of the St Michael’s Mission House in Steyl, Holland on Sept 8, 1875.
With the grace of God, Fr Arnold received a letter in 1881 from Hellena Stollenwerk of Rollesbroich, near Aachen in the Rhineland, expressing a deep desire to become a missionary sister. She asked Fr Arnold for advice and guidance so as to fulfil her calling. Fr Janssen, in recognising her intention responded, ‘If it is God’s will, he would found the congregation of the missionary.’
Fr Arnold established the nucleus of the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters on Dec 8, 1889. Helen Strollenwerk took the leading role of this congregation and became the first Mother Superior General of the SSpS using the name Mother Maria Helena Stollenwerk. She was assisted by Sr. Hendrina Stenmanns.
Seven years later, in 1896 when Fr Arnold established the congregation of the Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration, Sr Hendrinna Stenmanns took over the role previously held by Mother Maria Helena Stollenwerk who joined the Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration whose life was a complete consecration to the Holy Spirit in perpetual adoration.
Before she completed her novitiate, God called her.
In 1895 four SSpS Sisters went to Argentina where they opened schools and hospitals while others left for Togo in Africa, Ecuador and Brazil.
In 1901, the SSpS reached the United States. And just before the turn of the century the SSpS had reached New Guinea to join Fr Eberhard Limbrock and his band of pioneer SVD missionaries in Tumeleo Island, West Sepik in 1899.
The first to New Guinea were Srs Fridolina Voekt, Valeria Dietzen, Ursula Sensen and Martha Sieferding.
Fr Limbrock and the first SVD missionaries arrived in Friedrich Wilhelmshafen (Madang) on Aug 13, 1896, shortly after the Holy See entrusted SVD a mission field in the newly established Prefecture, the Apostolic of Wilhelmsland, the New Guinea part that was under German control.
Meanwhile, in 1877, Fr Arnold began taking in candidates for the brotherhood. He insisted that they received much practical training to assist in sustaining self-reliant mission work.
When Fr. Arnold died in 1909, his missionary sisters numbered 558, of whom 283 were active in foreign fields (Selfless, 2013).
What lessons can the SSpS learn from their mission life and work after providing integral human development services in PNG in collaboration with the SVDs for 125 years?

  • Wenceslaus Magun is a freelance writer.