Group photo of Congregation of Jesus (CJ) sisters and Father Arturo Sosa after Mass on Nov. 4, 2025. The CJ and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM) have officially merged into one congregation. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Congregatio Jesu
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 5, 2025 / 11:56 am (CNA).
The Congregation of Jesus (CJ) and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM) unified about 1,800 sisters across 40 countries after officially merging into one congregation on Tuesday.
The two congregations of apostolic women merged “after years of prayer, collaboration, and shared ministry,” IBVM said in a statement. “We now share one name, one vision, and one spirit — continuing Mary Ward’s legacy together as a single, international congregation.”
The merger decree became official on Nov. 4 at a Mass and celebration in Loyola, Spain, presided over by Father Arturo Sosa, the general superior of the Jesuits. The Mass will be followed by a Nov. 5 symposium called: “Women of the Dawn: On the Threshold of New Beginnings.”
IBVM sisters received their CJ crosses on Nov. 4, 2025, following the officially merger decree. The two religious groups merged into one congregation on Nov. 4, bringing over 1,800 sisters together across 40 countries. Credit: Photo courtesy of Congregatio Jesu
In 1609, Ward founded an apostolic institute of religious women modeled on the framework of the Society of Jesus. She wanted to create a community of sisters who were not cloistered, had no specific religious dress, and focused on God’s compassion. The institute broke off into two branches, but both remained dedicated to Ward’s mission.
IBVM members, also known as Loretto Sisters, will now be religious women of the Congregation of Jesus. Despite the change in name, the sisters said they remain who they have always been: “women inspired by the Gospel and dedicated to serving God’s people.”
As one unified congregation, the sisters said they will continue “working in education, social justice, pastoral ministry, and advocacy for women and those on the margins.” They will live out Ward’s belief that “women in time to come will do much.”
“We are very happy that we can finally fulfill Mary Ward’s dream of a united congregation of women religious with the same constitutions as those of the Society of Jesus,” said Sister Veronica Fuhrmann, general superior of CJ, in a press release. “We share the same charism, the same values, and the same understanding of mission.”
“Union of minds and hearts, which St. Ignatius has so aptly described and held in the highest esteem, is the bond that deeply connects us,” Fuhrmann said.
“In a fractured world, our members have freely chosen to become one congregation as a witness to Christ’s Gospel message of peace and harmony,” said Sister Carmel Swords, CJ, former institute leader of IBVM. “We have listened to the promptings of the Spirit and embark on this journey with renewed missionary zeal.”
“We believe that together we are stronger,” Swords said. “We move forward filled with gratitude and a desire to serve God’s people in freedom and joy.”
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Michael Stucchi poses in front of the restored statue of Jesus with children at St. Mel’s Church in Woodland Hills, California. / Photo credit: Tom Hoffarth
Woodland Hills, California, Nov 5, 2022 / 08:00 am (CNA).
In the darkness of an early Saturday morning last March 19, Father Steve Davoren and his golden lab, Blue, came out the back exit of the rectory at St. Mel’s Church in Woodland Hills, California, for a pre-dawn run.
But before he could start, the priest’s heart sank when he saw what the floodlights pointing at the church’s iconic statue cluster of Jesus and three children revealed.
Grainy security footage only captured the arm of a person repeatedly swinging an unidentified weapon at the statues. Pieces fell from what has been a longtime centerpiece of the parish, in a highly visible spot off of busy Ventura Boulevard.
Chunks of the marbled concrete that came off the twisted, exposed rebar were everywhere: in the raised flower bed flanked by white rose bushes, in the parking lot, on the sidewalk next to the parish office.
Davoren immediately called the church’s business manager, Lisa Feliciano, who threw on a hoodie and came right over.
“It was horrific,” Feliciano said. “But now we were putting pieces in a box, crying. I couldn’t believe anyone could have this much hate to do this.”
Feliciano filed a police report along with the surveillance video, which she described as “two minutes of torture.”
“I see it and it still makes me cry,” she said.
Details of the damaged statues of Jesus at St. Mel’s Church in Woodland Hills, California. Photo credit: Michael Stucchi
It fell to Davoren to explain the attack to parishioners the next day at Sunday Masses, preaching understanding and forgiveness in the place of anger and frustration.
“To me, the irony of this was the person who did this had to be a broken person himself,” said Davoren, pastor at St. Mel’s since 2018. “Through Scripture we know we need to pray for people who feel they have to destroy.”
Michael Stucchi heard Davoren’s message loud and clear that weekend. A systems software engineer by trade, Stucchi has found satisfaction working for the parish to restore four in-church statues in the past as well as Nativity scene statues.
He has been their humble go-to, fix-it man. But this was something bigger.
“When I spoke to Father Steve about it a few days after it happened, I admit, I was angry, mad, indignant because the statues were special to me and my family,” said Stucchi, whose son works in the parish office. “But then I heard his sadness and concern for the mental state of the person who damaged the statues. That’s so much like him. This really altered my paradigm from reactive to proactive — to ask if I could look into ways of repairing them.
“Father Steve’s compassion is what Jesus would want us to have. All the people who work here are in the same mindset of love and forgiveness. We have no idea what terrible things are in that person’s life.”
Stucchi and Feliciano started the reconstruction by collecting and studying photographs of the statues to examine all their features. The depiction of Jesus is about 6 feet tall and weighs about 1,000 pounds; each child on its own concrete base weighs about 300 pounds.
The collection dates to the 1950s, when the parish was first built. It had once been part of a fountain display in front of the school office and later relocated near the church’s west doors in the 1990s when the new parish center was built.
Feliciano had contacted the Los Angeles Archdiocese about filing an insurance claim and was told it might cost as much as $30,000 to repair.
Stucchi said he could take care of it, with no charge to the parish.
That didn’t surprise Feliciano, who calls Stucchi “a true angel.”
“Look at the difference between someone filled with hate and destruction … and then someone like Michael who spends his time showing pure love and joy putting it back together,” Feliciano said. “Both are our neighbors, they live among us. How can there be such a vast difference in someone’s heart and soul?”
Michael Stucchi has pieced together the statues at St. Mel’s Church in Woodland Hills, California, to where they may even be in better condition when finished. Photo credit: Michael Stucchi
Stucchi experimented with different combinations of compounds — crushed marble, white Portland cement, and waterproof exterior grout. Most of the work had to be done on site, with some pieces taken to his home garage.
“I was super cautious about not making anything worse,” said Stucchi, noting the materials often dried too quickly in the summer heat, causing more delays. “The saddest part to me was the damage to Jesus. We know enough about the pain and suffering Jesus went through in his life, but to see an image of him obliterated, that’s too much.”
Slowly and meticulously, Stucchi has pieced together the statues to where they may even be in better condition now because of the ways weather and age already caused cracks and decay before the vandalism.
Seven months later, Stucchi has a few finishing touches — and plenty of gratitude — still left.
“As a priest’s sacrifice and commitment are beyond my comprehension or capabilities, having seen their dedication and that of the other volunteers and staff, I felt it’s the least I can do,” Stucchi said. “Notwithstanding, the Catholic Church was always there for me when I was a child and young adult.”
From a business perspective, Feliciano said the experience has taught her about the need for better security. The statues also were previously vandalized in 2021 when someone painted the faces a green color, but they were easy enough to repaint white.
“As a parishioner, the kindness of Michael reminds me that there is goodness in the world,” said Feliciano, who noted the 100-degree days Stucchi spent with the statue last summer. “I am reminded to pray for the person who was filled with enough hate to do the damage and thank God for blessing us with Michael.”
Father Davoren believes that “to some degree, we’re all broken and damaged, but our faith in the love of God allows people like Michael the tenderness to painstakingly put those pieces of the statue back together.
“It’s about giving people the right amount of grace to rebound in their lives.”
Jackson, Miss., Mar 20, 2018 / 12:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order Tuesday against a Mississippi law which bans most abortions after 15 weeks into pregnancy.
It is the most restrictive abortion law in the US.
US District Judge Carlton Reeves temporarily blocked the Gestational Age Act March 20, one day after it was signed by Republican Gov. Phil Bryant.
I was proud to sign House Bill 1510 this afternoon. I am committed to making Mississippi the safest place in America for an unborn child, and this bill will help us achieve that goal. pic.twitter.com/O0O4QeILLx
A suit was filed against the law within hours of its signing by the Center for Reproductive Rights. The center argues that a “state may not ban abortion before viability.” Viability is currently typically placed at around 24 weeks.
Dr. Sacheen Carr-Ellis of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the state’s only abortion clinic, saying a woman at least 15 weeks pregnant was scheduled to have an abortion Tuesday afternoon.
The state argued that it has an interest in protecting the life of the unborn, as well as maternal health.
The law was passed by the state legislature earlier in the month. It permits abortion past 15 weeks when the mother’s life or major bodily function is in danger or when the unborn child has a severe abnormality which is incompatible with life outside the womb at full term. Exceptions are not granted for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
Under the law, physicians knowingly in violation can lose their state medical licenses, and receive a civil penalty of up to $500 if they falsify records about the circumstances of the procedure.
State records indicate about 200 abortions a year are performed on women 15 to 20 weeks pregnant; according to the suit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Jackson Women’s Health Organization performed 78 abortions past 15 weeks in 2017.
Prior to the passage of the new law, Mississippi barred abortion at 20 weeks into pregnancy. It also requires that those performing abortions be board-certified or -eligible obstetrician-gynecologists, and that a woman receive in-person counseling and wait 24 hours before receiving an abortion.
Signing the bill, Bryant said that “We are saving more of the unborn than any state in America, and what better thing we could do? We’ll probably be sued here in about a half hour, and that’ll be fine with me. It’ll be worth fighting over.”
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>It’s a great day in Mississippi as we move to make our state the safest place in the nation for an unborn child. I was proud to stand with members of the pro-life community as Gov. <a href=”https://twitter.com/PhilBryantMS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@PhilBryantMS</a> signed the ban on abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. <a href=”https://t.co/xWQNgjyTUn”>pic.twitter.com/xWQNgjyTUn</a></p>— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) <a href=”https://twitter.com/tatereeves/status/975835841766526976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>March 19, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn said at the signing that the state would be prepared for pay to defend the law in court: “I don’t know if you can put any value on human life. We are all about fighting to protect the unborn. Whatever challenges we have to take on to do that, is something we’re willing to do.”
San Francisco, Calif., Jun 25, 2021 / 13:13 pm (CNA).
On June 23, 2021, First Things published Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s paragraph-by-paragraph response to “Statement of Principles,” a document developed by 60 Democrat… […]
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