Putaendo (Chile), 03/07/2020, Sr. Gabriela Vergara R.- On March 7, 2020 the sisters of the Vice-Province of Aconcagua with a large number of lay people, friends, relatives, missionaries of the Presentation and members of the educational institutions gathered at Marie Poussepin’s College in Putaendo to celebrate the 60 years of the missionary presence of the Congregation in Chile.

Hna. Nilda Miranda

During the celebration, we remembered with gratitude the day on which the first 12 sisters from the Province of Bogotá, Colombia, arrived in Chile: San Felipe and Putaendo were the two cities that simultaneously opened their doors to the daughters of Marie Poussepin, to work in the field of education in the "Dolores Otero" School and in the "Abdón Cifuentes" Institute, respectively.

The Eucharistic celebration presided over by Bishop Santiago Silva, president of the Episcopal Conference of Chile, accompanied by Dominican friars, priests from the Diocese of San Felipe and deacons who are friends of the Congregation, was present at the celebration in which we expressed our gratitude: the gift of the Charism that has been growing in this part of the Congregation, the life of so many sisters who have given their missionary service in Aconcagua, the witness of the lay people who share the mission with us day by day and with whom we have been weaving the history of the Congregation in the Vice-Province of Aconcagua.

At the end of the Eucharist, Sr. Nilda Miranda, Vice-Provincial Superior, addressed the assembly recalling that this celebration challenges us to continue to strengthen our heritage received from Marie Poussepin through our commitment and generous service in the mission entrusted to each sister. We are called to give witness in our dedication to the project of Jesus in the midst of the complex reality that Chile and Argentina, countries that make up our Vice-Province, are experiencing today.

After the Eucharist, a new pavilion of Marie Poussepin’s College was blessed, which will certainly allow us to give a better service of education.This family celebration of the 60 years of our presence in this part of the Church concluded by sharing the table with those who accompanied us fraternally in this thanksgiving..