ROME, MARCH 15, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The Pontifical Institute Regina Mundi, which is dedicated exclusively to the theological formation of women, celebrated its 50th anniversary this month.
On March 3 the Rome-headquartered international center held a congress on «The Feminine Face of the Church,» attended by more than 300 people.
The institute, connected with the Gregorian University, brings together women, especially religious, from 53 countries and 63 congregations.
It offers institutional courses in religious sciences, the training of formators, and a permanent formation program in English, French and Spanish. The rector is an alumna, Religious Sister of Mercy Clare McGovern.
In an address on the institution’s history, the dean of the English section, Sister Sharon Holland, IHM, said: «The first decade of Regina Mundi was full of the enthusiasm and the challenges of such a new venture; it was truly international from the beginning.»
The speaker commented on the words of the institute’s first rector, Jesuit Father Paolo Dezza, who emphasized that «training religious in the sacred sciences raised the spiritual level of the entire community.»
«Like our sisters who founded Regina Mundi 50 years ago, we do not see exactly where the future lies, but we have clarity on the necessity of theologically trained religious women everywhere in the world,» added Sister Holland.
Dominican Sister Catherine Aubin gave a talk on the mission of consecrated women, saying that it consists in «manifesting to the world the consolation of God, of a God who never abandons his children, who accompanies his creature to the end to lead him to life.»
The institute’s 50th anniversary congress, which was held at the Patristic Institute Augustinianum, was presided over by Salesian Sister Enrica Rosanna, undersecretary of the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
