Vatican grants Bicol congregation pontifical right
POPE Benedict XVI has granted pontifical right to a religious congregation of women founded in Naga City in 1966.
The congregation of Daughters of Mary Mother of the Church Institute has been approved by the Holy See as a congregation with pontifical right through the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic life.
Institutes of pontifical right are those erected or approved by the Holy See by formal decree. The DM congregation received the Holy See’s approval on May 29. Mother Hedelina Vitalicio, general superior of the DM sisters, disclosed in an interview that it took them about three years to have their request granted because of the many requirements they had to comply with.
She said that one of the things that took time was the revision of their constitutions, which was required by the Holy See.
Another Vatican requirement were testimonials from diocesan bishops where the DM sisters worked and have established communities.
Grateful for the grace of approval, Vitalicio also regarded the Vatican decree as a sign and a challenge for the congregation to live faithfully its vocation.
“To be granted the pontifical right is not a privilege but an obligation for us to be more holy and faithful,” she said.
The DM Sisters celebrated the religious milestone with a thanksgiving Mass on August 15, Feast of the Assumption of Mary, attended by the schools founded and run by the Daughters of Mary and by the different religious communities in the Archdiocese of Caceres.
Caceres Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi officiated the Eucharistic sacrifice at the Basilica Minore de Peñafrancia, together with Most Rev. Jose Rojas, D.D., Most Rev. Lucilo Quiambao, D.D., Most Rev. Jose Sorra, D.D., and the Caceres Clergy.
In his homily, Legaspi City said that it is through the “Congregation’s ‘vitality and stability, distinct achievements in the fields of education and Catechesis” that the Holy Father granted them Pontifical Right.
With 138 professed members, the DM sisters carry their catechetical ministry in various dioceses in the Bicol region, in Central Luzon, in the National Capital Region and abroad, where they have established communities.