Mechernich – Communio in Christo has welcomed a new member to its motherhouse: Sr Shelly Ruth (48) from Punjab is now officially part of the community in Mechernich. Superior General Jaison Thazhathil warmly welcomed her into the community.
Her connection with Communio dates back several years. The Indian nun has been in contact with the community in Mechernich since 2019. She made her first visit to the motherhouse on 1 February 2023 – a formative stay during which she also took her vows.
Originally, Sr Shelly had wished to get to know Communio in her home country of India and to pursue her path there. The spirituality and way of life of Communio won her over early on. However, there were no concrete plans to move to Germany at first.
Sister Shelly Ruth had already been a member of another congregation in India for over 15 years, which she left a few years ago to care for her parents, who were in need of care. Her father has since passed away, and she continues to look after her mother. A few years ago, she came into contact with Communio in Christo through the first Superior General, Karl-Heinz Haus. She increasingly felt that her vocation was a good fit for Communio in Christo.
Sr. Shelly also came into contact with His Excellency Bishop Jacob Mar Barnabas, “a great friend of Communio in Christo,” in New Delhi. Before the coronavirus pandemic, he had originally planned to travel with Sr. Shelly to the Motherhouse in Germany so that she could get to know Communio in Christo better and establish a Communio community within his diocese. However, COVID-19 thwarted these plans, and Bishop Barnabas later passed away.
His Excellency Bishop Thomas Mar Anthonios, the successor to the late shepherd of the diocese, who visited Communio and General Superior Thazhathil in Mechernich in November 2022, continued his predecessor’s Communio-friendly approach.
Last year, Bishop Mar Anthonios’ visit had a very special reason: it served to grant dispensation to Sister Shelly of Communio, who works in social services in his diocese of Gurgaon-Delhi and wished to transfer to the Mechernich community. The approval of Bishop Mar Anthonios was received in Mechernich with great gratitude and applause. The Bishop of Aachen, Dr Helmut Dieser, had also expressly welcomed Sr Shelly Ruth’s move to the Mechernich motherhouse of Communio in Christo in a letter of recommendation.
Great trust in Sister Shelly
The Bishop, who himself belongs to the ‘Order of the Imitation of Christ’, a Syro-Malankara religious Congregation in India, said at the time in conversation with Father Jaison Thazhathil, the Superior General of the Ordo Communionis in Christo, whose mother house is in Mechernich, his deputy Deacon Manfred Lang, and Sister Lidwina, Spiritual Director Father Rudolf Ammann ISch and Marie-Thérèse Dijkstra, that he had great understanding and confidence in the further spiritual development of Sister Shelly, who is being welcomed with open arms in Mechernich.
He told the Superior General, Father Jaison Thazhathil, and his leadership team that the Mechernich Communio, with its 250 members worldwide, and his Diocese of Gurgaon-Delhi, the largest in India by area, would remain closely connected and support one another.
Bishop Mar Anthonios would like to see the spirituality of the love of God spread through active charity in the parishes and families in Delhi and Mechernich: “We will help and support one another.”
Mar Anthonios, who speaks excellent German, graduated from the University of Kerala. He obtained a doctorate in Oriental Canon Law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. Following his ordination, he served, amongst other roles, as superior of various monasteries, headmaster of a school in Kottayam, master of postulants, treasurer, chaplain and parish priest, and professor at St Mary’s Malankara Major Seminary in Trivandrum and other major seminaries.
Overcoming challenges
In the Diocese of Gurgaon-Delhi, Sr. Shelly Ruth worked in the Social Service Department. There, she was particularly committed to helping the poor, the sick, and those marginalized by society through food distribution, educational initiatives, and various forms of support for those in need.
At the same time, the Communio community in Mechernich was looking for reinforcement for the motherhouse. “It seems that God has arranged everything in a wonderful way in the background,” said Superior General Thazhathil as he welcomed Sister Shelly in the refectory of the community founded in Mechernich in 1984 by Mother Marie Therese.
The bond continued to grow through several visits. Eventually, the way was cleared for a permanent move – with the consent of the Indian diocese, which granted Sr Shelly leave to take this step. Now a new chapter in the nun’s life begins: first on the agenda is intensive language study. The aim is to obtain the B2 certificate so that she can function confidently in daily life and in the service of the Communio.
Subsequently, she is to be gradually integrated into the responsibilities of the Motherhouse. Communio in Christo sees itself as an international spiritual family with members worldwide. People from different cultures and walks of life live out their vocation to love of neighbor together. “With Sr. Shelly, this international dimension once again becomes visible,” said Superior General Jaison Thazhathil. “Love does not need translation” is a guiding principle in Communio – and this very experience is now beginning in a very concrete way for Sr. Shelly in Mechernich.
pp/Agentur ProfiPress
