As a musician, Sister Catherine Marie Schuhmann likens the expressions of the female Passionist vocation to “a symphony orchestra – all these different instruments, all contributing to the one, beautiful, melody.”
From her role as mother superior of St Joseph Monastery in Whitesville; to being summoned to serve as a temporary superior for the Passionist community in Lucca, Italy; to being elected the very first mother president of the newly erected Congregation of the Nuns of the Passion of Jesus Christ, the Kentucky native has witnessed this contemplative vocation “lived in a beautiful multiplicity of ways.”
She completed her six-year term as mother president last spring and, at age 82, is back home at her beloved St Joseph Monastery.
On 29 June, 2018, the Holy See erected one congregation for all female Passionist communities across the world, and Sister Catherine Marie was elected mother president during the congregation’s first General Chapter in early 2019.
Forming one congregation has been beneficial for those communities experiencing “diminishment” due to aging, physical ailments and a lack of vocations.
Having just held their second chapter and chosen a new mother president, the Passionists are looking to the future with hope, said Sister Catherine Marie. “The congregation is in good hands.” Currently, there are 240 Passionist nuns residing across 14 nations.
