SW News: A Scottish missionary who served in the Middle East and Egypt was elected as the new Superior General of the Institute of the Pious Mothers of the Nigrita, who are commonly known as the Comboni Missionary Sisters. Mother Anne Marie Quigg was elected as the new head of the order, which was established in 1872 by St Daniele Comboni, an Italian priest who served in Sudan. The election was held during the ongoing XXI General Chapter of the congregation which will come to a close on October 25 at the Mother House of the nuns in Verona, Italy.

Mother Anne Marie, 61, mainly worked in the field of education and is now based in London where she provides spiritual accompaniment. After her election, she thanked her fellow nuns and used a nautical image on the future course of action of the congregation.

“We invite all the sisters to come aboard this boat. Sometimes, the sea will be calm, other times it will be rough, but the journey has begun and must continue. It will also have to include a change of mentality, in order to be able to value the charism in the current context,” she said in her maiden address. She used the image of a vessel to dwell on the changes and reconfiguration that need to take place in the future.

Mother Anne Marie said that each one of them would have to be open to understand what it means to be a Comboni missionary today. The councilors who were elected during the General Chapter include Sr Maria de Los Angeles Funes Rodriguez from Mexico who is serving in Brazil; Sr Alicia Vacas Moro of Spain who is working in the Middle East; Sr Veronica Wangui Mburu from Kenya who is serving in Ethiopia and Sr Elenora Reboldi, who hails from Italy but is working in Mozambique in Africa.

The Comboni nuns number 1,017 and they are spread across 34 nations. The congregation counts 608 Europeans, 248 Africans, 157 Americans and four Asians. The average age of nuns is 70. Mother Anne Marie will lead the congregation for six years with her new team of councilors.