On September 7, 2025, our 12th General Chapter began in Rome, Italy. The General Chapter is an international gathering of Daughters of St. Paul from all over the world, held once every six years. Its purpose is to study and reflect on our current reality, as well as the current situation of the Church, the world, media, and technology, and how all of that affects and gives direction to our life and mission today.
Our Constitutions say that the General Chapter is “the supreme authority of the Congregation…an ecclesial event, an expression of the communion and participation of all the members” (FSP Const. art. 165). Three of us Daughters of St. Paul from the United States/English-speaking Canada province are participating in this beautiful and significant moment of our congregation—Sister Donald Maria, Sister Emily Beata, and Sister Christina Miriam—along with 54 other Sisters from all over the world. (Sister Anne Joan and Sister Margaret Edward are with us as translators.)
United in Our Marvelous Vocation
Personally, it is my first time attending a General Chapter, and a great many things have been touching my heart. I have to admit that I arrived in Rome very jet-lagged, a little nervous, and a bit uncertain of what to expect. However, as Sisters began to arrive from all over the world, and I greeted some whom I already knew, and met many others whom I did not yet know, I began to feel very much at home.
Despite the differences of background, country, language, age, and experience, I felt a sense of family and unity right away. We are all Daughters of St. Paul, all called by Jesus Christ to this marvelous vocation, and all desire to live our vocation in a way that gives life to the world and to the congregation. There is a profound sense of unity that needs no words—it simply is. These Sisters are my community, for this month of the General Chapter and forever—we care for each other, we love the congregation, and we want to give ourselves over in love to God who has called us.
Who Can Imagine What the Lord Desires?
On Sunday, September 7, we began the Chapter with a Mass in the sub-crypt of the Basilica of Mary, Queen of Apostles. This is where our Co-Foundress, Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo, is buried, so our opening Mass took place in her presence and under her gaze. It also took place in the presence of many other Daughters of St. Paul and members of the Pauline Family. It was as if we were being offered to God and lifted up to him by the prayers of so many brothers and sisters. It felt very solemn and very hopeful.
Two things have remained with me from that opening Mass. The first is a line from the first reading, which was taken from the Book of Wisdom: “Who can conceive what the Lord intends?” (Wisdom 9:13). The Italian translation reads something like: “Who can imagine what the Lord desires?” The idea that we cannot even imagine what the Lord wants for us, for our congregation, for our mission, for this Chapter brought me so much hope, and reminded me that the most important thing during this time is to listen, deeply and profoundly, to the Lord.
Then in the homily, Fr. Domenico Solman, superior general of the Society of St. Paul, said this: “Being here takes us back to the day of Pentecost, when the Church became aware of her identity.” I have heard many Sisters refer to the Chapter as a time of “Pentecost,” but I had not thought about how at Pentecost the Holy Spirit made the Church aware of her identity. We are here at this Chapter, at this new Pentecost, to become once again aware of our identity, of our call, in the world of today. It is both the same call and one that is ever new, and I am quietly excited to discover what God has to show us.
Radical Openness to the Holy Spirit
Since it is my first time at a General Chapter, I have been asking the other Sisters here if they have any advice or thoughts for me. Many Sisters are here for the first time as well, but some are attending their third or fourth or even fifth General Chapter. Yet everyone has communicated a sense that we are all starting from the same place. One Sister, here for the fourth time, said to me, “Every General Chapter is different. Each one is new.” Even though we are from different parts of the world, of all different ages, and of all different experiences, there is a beautiful sense that we are all beginning from the same place. We are all beginning in the heart of the Trinity as we look out onto the world and listen on behalf of the congregation.
The other thing that every Sister—both those attending the Chapter and those praying for the Chapter—has referred to is openness to the Holy Spirit. As I entered the Chapter Hall for the first time, I realized that while we are entering into this time with an outline of our work, and with various points to consider, we do not have any idea of what the Spirit will do among us during this time. The Spirit will work in each of us individually but also with us as a body, and we cannot predict or program what he will do in us and with us.
Because of this, I feel that the most important thing that each of us can do is to free ourselves of anything that blocks or prevents us from hearing the whispers of the Spirit, and continually open our hearts to feel his movements, which are subtle, tender, and loving.
Pray for Us!
The theme of our 12th General Chapter is: Impelled by the fire of the Spirit, and listening to contemporary humanity, we communicate the Gospel of hope. I ask for your prayers, we all ask for your prayers, so that we may truly be impelled by the fire of the Spirit; that we may listen with open hearts to contemporary humanity; and that we may be renewed in our call to communicate the Gospel of hope with everything that we are and in everything that we do. May we continue to be united in our marvelous vocation, and may our hearts be radically open to the beautiful movements of the Holy Spirit as together we walk toward what we cannot even imagine, toward God’s incredible desire for our present and our future.
Arrivederci!