Joliet Franciscan sister in Brazil makes final vows

JOLIET – On Jan. 24, 2015, Sister Beatriz de Sousa professed her perpetual vows in the congregation and became the newest professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate.

De Sousa was born and raised in Brazil. In 2006, she joined the Irmãs Franciscanas (Franciscan Sisters) where she began to live with and minister among the Joliet Franciscan Sisters.  The congregation had established its Brazilian Mission in 1963. In 2010, Sister Beatriz professed her simple vows and officially became a member of the Congregation.  She was then referred to as "Sister" Beatriz.  As a teenager she began to participate actively in her local parish.

Sister Dolores Zemont, president of the congregation, traveled to Brazil with Sr. Dorothy Kinsella, who is serving as historian of the congregation, to participate in the final vow ceremony.

During this ceremony, Sister Beatriz professed vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and to be bound by the Constitutions of the Congregation which were amended and approved on Oct. 4, 1985, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

De Sousa will continue to minister as a teacher in Goiania, Brazil.