Countdown to the General Chapter: First Guests at the Motherhouse

August 30, 2024. While preparations for the 21st General Chapter are in full swing in the Generalate and the Borromaeum, the first delegates and guests from Japan will be arriving in Münster this evening. The group will be picked up at Münster-Osnabrück Airport by General Superior Sister M. Margarete Ulager, General Vicaress Sister M. Rita Edakkoottathil, Sister M. Laetitia Matsunaga from the Japanese Province and board member Prof. Dr. Michael Möllmann. They will then be taken the motherhouse of the Hospital Sisters.

In order to allow all Sisters and interested parties from all over the world who cannot be in Münster in person to experience the General Chapter as closely as possible, we will be presenting some important places in short film clips over the next few days – starting with the Motherhouse, whose foundation stone was laid by the Hospital Sisters in the middle of the 19th century.

In 1853, the hospital sisters moved from Telgte to Münster. The motherhouse they built included a convent, a church and the beginnings of St. Francis Hospital – a building well suited to their busy lives of work and prayer. Since then, the size, use and shape of the Motherhouse has constantly been adapted to the changing needs of the time. In one of the remodelling phases, the former chapter hall was transferred to St. Francis Hospital. The latest extension includes a modern chapel and living quarters. In the 1960s, around 200 sisters lived in the motherhouse; up to 500 were hosted during retreats. Today, it is home to 60 Hospital Sisters and 24 Brothers and Sisters of other congregations. It is also the seat of the German Provincial leadership and of the international General Administration, who frequently welcome visitors from around the world.