The Foundress

Blessed Mary Katherine Kasper

Katharina Kasper was born May 26, 1820 in Dernbach, Germany. The Congregation of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ was founded in Germany in the year 1851.

Today there are Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ in Germany, Netherlands, USA, England, India, Mexico, Brazil, Kenya and Nigeria. Belong to an international congregation means, a learning curve for us and as aresult we have gradually grown in understanding what it means to be an "International Congregation".

We are learning together :

• To discover and accept our unique individual, cultural, historical and social roots.
• To treat each other with mutual respect and to discover our differences as riches and as gift from God.
• To affirm that my culture is not at the center of all things but is in concert with all other cultures in our community.

The General Leadership

The Generalate consists of the General Superior and her Councilors. These Sisters are elected every six years by the General Chapter, the highest legislative body in the Congregation. They bear the primary responsibility for the Congregation.

In the spirit of our Foundress they try to fulfill their responsibilities in the Congregation, which are given to them through the Constitutions and which the General Chapter assigns to them.

The prime responsibilities for General Leadership is to promote unity within the Congregation and keep alive the awareness of internationality in the provinces, regions, and mission groups, and to put new life into the charism and spirituality of Blessed Mary Catherine.

On May 2nd the General Chapter Delegates elected the following General Councilors: Sr. Annemarie Kampwerth, Vicaress; Sr. Shirley Bell and Sr. Barbara Spiegelhoff, together with Sr. Gonzalo, General Superior, as the newly-elected team for 2013-2019. Congratulations to all!

The Provincial Leadership