In the heart of the Amazon rainforest, where rivers are roads and life flourishes amid adversity, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) celebrate one hundred years of evangelizing presence in the Amazon region of Loreto, Peru. From their convent in the town of Requena, these consecrated women have made service, closeness, and faith a concrete way of embodying the Gospel among the Amazonian peoples.
Their work takes place in a territory of great natural wealth and cultural diversity, where indigenous communities, deeply connected to the jungle, preserve ancestral traditions, sustainable ways of life, and a wisdom that is passed down from generation to generation. There, the FMM accompany the daily lives of families, visiting villages along the Amazon River and its tributaries by boat on a weekly basis—a journey of up to four hours—to bring comfort, basic care, and spiritual nourishment.
Sister Hilda Mary Bernath, an indigenous missionary and teacher at the school run by the sisters, shares that despite material limitations, “people welcome us warmly into their homes. They try to survive with what they have, farming, fishing, and sustaining life with hope.” During the rainy season, river flooding hinders transportation and damages homes, but the communities keep their strength and faith alive.
Each visit by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary becomes a sign of communion and hope: they share the Word of God, provide spiritual accompaniment, basic medical care, and educational support to children and young people, some of whom live in the boarding school that the sisters run in Requena. “These weekly meetings are not only a time of faith and prayer, but also a sign of God’s loving presence among his people,” says Sister Hilda.
Inspired by the charism of St. Francis of Assisi and the witness of their foundress, Blessed Mary of the Passion (Hélène de Chappotin de Neuville), the sisters embody their motto, “The whole world is my homeland,” making God’s tenderness and mercy visible wherever life cries out for it.
In this region marked by distances, poverty, and the beauty of creation, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary are instruments of God’s love, peace, and hope. Their centenary in Loreto is a living testimony to the missionary fidelity that continues to flourish in the Amazon, where the Church, through its silent dedication, continues to build communion, dignity, and hope alongside the Amazonian peoples.
CEAMA celebrates and thanks the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary for their presence, a concrete sign of the synodal, missionary, and hopeful face of the Church in the Amazon.
