Companions in Franciscan Solidarity

​Collaborating through continued exchange of ideas

Relationships rooted in the Franciscan Common Venture, which accomplished much over 20 years before ending in 2018 when the communities involved determined that they had completed what was theirs to do. But the connection between FSPA, Sisters of St. Francis and Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis remains strong. “Sisters were going back and forth for two decades between the U.S. and Cameroon, and we developed some very important personal relationships,” explains Sister Eileen McKenzie. “There is just this really deep relationship between our congregations that is rooted in friendship, Franciscanism and the Gospel.”

Companions in Franciscan Solidarity, a global Franciscan sisterhood in which FSPA participates, fosters intercultural friendship in order to collaborate across borders with compassionate responses to the needs of the time. FSPA remains committed to partnering with Cameroonian TSSF, as well as those in Bolivia, Brixen, Rome and Hull. Together, our work includes:

• Exploring opportunities in formation with our Bolivian sisters
• Supporting mission development efforts with the Generalate in Rome
• Exploring collaboration with sisters in Hall and Brixen provinces
• Supporting the people of Cameroon

Sister Sue's Rome Journey: Strengthening Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis Bonds

Sister Sue Ernster recently had the opportunity to visit Rome, Italy. During her visit, she fostered connections with the Tertiary Sisters of Saint Francis (TSSF). The TSSF shares, “Our Global Sisterhood continues to challenge us to enlarge the tents of our hearts. It offers us opportunities to mutually learn from one another, share common stories, embrace our vulnerabilities, and seek ways of navigating through life’s challenges with resilience and equanimity. Read the full story at the Tertiary Sisters' website. 

Thanksgiving for the Creation of St. Clare Province of the TSSF Buea 

On May 30, 2024, the previously one Cameroon Province of the Tertiary Sisters of St Francis was officially split into three New Provinces. St. Clare Province with a temporal provincial house in Kombo Village of one of the three and the leadership of this infant province was placed upon the shoulders of Mother Loretta Yekwa. On August 10, this new province was welcomed to Buea by the Bishop in the context of a Thanksgiving pontifical High Mass. The paramount chief of Buea also welcomed the new province and more precisely the chief of Kombo village and the women of the said village also joyously welcomed the new province, stating their expectations. FSPA supported the restructuring of the Cameroonian provinces.

At home with the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis of Cameroon (of Milwaukee)

Many FSPA remember sisters from Cameroon who studied in La Crosse. This article tells the story of a new mission for them in Milwaukee at St. Ann's Intergenerational Center sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, FSPA's "sister community."  One sister featured in this story is Sister Delphine Koyhen, who lived at St. Rose while she studied at Viterbo University.

Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis take music from fun to ministry

As published by the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis, "Sisterhood is closely associated with prayer of which singing is one of its expressions. Impressive stories were told of the thrilling feminine voices of the Shisong Sisters by the women who came from various villages to be delivered of their babies and by the sick who came to Shisong Hospital.  From the hospital bed, they would hear the Sisters “singing like angels." Read the full story and learn more about TSSF at tertiarysisters.org. 
 

A journey together, in crisis

World Report 2024: Cameroon, Events of 2023

In Cameroon, we journey together through crisis.Our work includes supporting refugee and internally displaced persons and supporting the resiliency of TSSF sisters and others in Cameroon through trauma workshops. “We found reports from our Cameroonian friends and international human rights observers deeply disturbing as we learn more about what is commonly called the Anglophone Crisis. Deteriorating conditions have resulted in death, torture, injury and human rights abuse of citizens. Basic services in these areas are compromised or nonexistent, including education, communication and health care. Our goal is peace for Kumbo. Peace for Cameroon.” FSPA and La Crosse Friends of Cameroon hosted a town hall to educate others on the situation and move them to action. During the town hall, guests experienced this sister city mayor-to-mayor connection.

Historical Note: Franciscan Common Venture

The year 1998 welcomed the initiation of a Common Venture among four Franciscan congregations: Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, La Crosse, Wisconsin; Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, Meriden, Connecticut; and the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis, Cameroon, West Africa.

In February 2018, FSPA and the three other communities comprising the Franciscan Common Venture gathered in Assisi, Italy, to celebrate their 20th anniversary and to envision a way forward. 

Themes of gratitude, empowerment, and transformation were woven into the event at the Assisi meeting, the place of origin where in 1998 the congregations found themselves being called into a mutual relationship. A structured relationship has guided the Common Venture through the years. The group now proposed a new way of collaborating through a continuing exchange of ideas, insights, experiences and liberal consultation with one another. Recognizing that the fruits of the relationship can never be forgotten nor exhausted, the sisters decided to conclude the formal aspects of their common mission and live into the future by “setting their sails to the ever-blowing winds of God’s grace,” as articulated by Sister Maria Theresia Oberwalder, TSSF general superior.

As of July 1, 2018, the structured features of the Franciscan Common Venture ended. A fund developed over the years for the education of the sisters from Cameroon is now held by the FSPA Mission Advancement Office in La Crosse.

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