HOPE RISING FROM THE ASHES
From June 2 to 16, 2026, the community of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in Santiago de Chile was visited by Sister Angela Marie, Superior General, and Sister Alina Furczyk, general assistant. The visitation was a joyful time of encounter with the Sisters, celebrating their growing ministry to families, university students, the sick, and local parishes, as well as gaining a deeper understanding of the realities of the local Church.
The program of the visit was highly intensive. The Sisters participated in diocesan events, visited the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and toured the UC Christus hospitals, where they met with the executive boards. The Sisters also made pilgrimages to the national shrines of the Chilean saints: Saint Teresa of Jesus (de Los Andes) and Saint Alberto Hurtado.
Today, the Nazareth Sisters in Santiago are an integral, beloved, and well-recognized part of the archdiocese. The people they met frequently expressed their gratitude for the light and spirit of the Holy Family that the Sisters bring into everyday life—through catechesis, leading parish groups (Lectio Divina, youth meetings), participating in UC Christus formation meetings, and collaborating with the Vicariate for the Family.
The Sisters’ convent is located at La Asunción parish—a church that was brutally set on fire and destroyed during the violent social protests in Chile in October 2019. The local Church community, affected in recent years not only by material destruction but also by internal crises, is now dedicating immense efforts to rebuilding its identity. The presence of the Nazareth Sisters in this place is a special mission: accompanying a Church that is literally and spiritually rising from the ashes, bringing love and hope, and restoring a living faith.
Flickr album: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCXqC6
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More about the 2019 riots in Chile (turn on subtitles in your language)
