Pilgrims of Hope (9): Support

The series “Pilgrims of Hope” is a monthly spiritual contribution to the Holy Year – a collaboration between the international Generalate of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis and the Muenster-based German church publication “Kirche und Leben” (“Church+Life”). Our topic in September: Hope for Support

A year ago, in mid-September 2024, large parts of Eastern Europe were hit by heavy rain and flooding. Many people lost their lives. In Poland, the region where the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis have been active since 1848 was particularly affected: when a dam broke, a flood wave poured into the Lower Silesian town of Ołdrzychowice Kłodzkie, home to the Motherhouse of our Polish Province. Roads, walls, cars, fences, and trees were simply swept away, and houses were flooded. When the water finally receded, the full extent of the devastation became apparent.

At that time, the Provincial Superior of the Polish Province, Sister M. Maksymiliana Pilarska, was in Münster with a delegation of fellow Sisters to attend the General Chapter of the international Congregation. “Half of our group traveled back to our Motherhouse as quickly as possible,” she recalls today. What the Sisters found exceeded their worst fears. “The buildings were filled with water meters high. There was no electricity, no heating, no fresh water, no telephone, no internet.” Even a year later, the renovation work is still not complete.

But looking back, it is not only horror that stands out, but also gratitude. “The support we received in this emergency situation was incredible – both locally and internationally.” This support came from neighbors, people from the region, the Polish government, the Sisters’ families, and the international Congregation. “The Generalate, our International Leadership in Münster, procured generators, drying equipment, and materials that were immediately sold out in our region,” reports Sister Maksymiliana. “They also provided medicine, water, food, and much more.” The German Province of the Congregation, the St. Franziskus Foundation, and the St. Antonius Parish in Münster also participated in the emergency aid, as did the shipping company Fiege Healthcare Logistics, which provided transportation. Urgently needed financial aid also came from Münster and from many people in Poland and around the world. By November 2024, the Sisters had received 369 monetary donations, both small and large. The Sisters shared their materials and funds with other affected people in the area. “We would like to once again express our heartfelt thanks to all our supporters,” emphasizes Sister Maksymiliana.

“The fact that we can help each other in times of need is one of the great gifts of our internationality,” says the Superior General of the Mauritzer Franciscan Sisters, Sister M. Margarete Ulager. However, the Franciscan Sisters’ worldwide aid is not limited to acute situations or to their own community. The sisters in the USA, who have been active in health care since 1875 and have founded many hospitals in the Midwest, have launched “Mission Outreach”: Based in Springfield, Illinois, the organization addresses the urgent medical needs of people in resource-poor areas around the world by collecting medical supplies and equipment from US hospitals, sorting them, repairing them if necessary, and then distributing them to hospitals and medical aid organizations worldwide. Mission Outreach’s biomedical engineering department tests and manages 700 medical devices and their associated consumables each year. The organization can count on the support of more than 300 volunteers to pack, inventory, and ship the relief supplies.

Since its founding in 2002, it has saved more than $85 million worth of medical supplies and equipment that would otherwise have ended up in landfills. It has already supported 530 medical aid organizations worldwide; and in August 2024, the Mission Outreach team was delighted to reach its 100th country with a delivery to Burundi.

“What can I personally do to alleviate suffering – here and now, with my resources and capabilities?” This question already moved our namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, 800 years ago. He gave away all his worldly possessions and dedicated his life to serving God, and the sick and marginalized. Inspired by his example, we Hospital Sisters have been searching for new answers to this question ever since our Congregation was founded in 1844. And we have gratefully accepted the support we have been given. For example, from Leoś, a 10-year-old Polish boy: with the money he received as a gift for his First Communion, he bought a dehumidifier for the Sisters in Ołdrzychowice Kłodzkie.

By Sister M. Beata Kapica and Claudia Berghorn

This article was published in German, online and in print, in the Diocese of Muenster’s magazine, “Kirche+Leben”(Church+Life), in September 2025.