Indian nun named to head International Union of Superiors General’s Formation Program for Formators

An Indian nun has been appointed to the International Union of Superiors General (IUSG) to head its Formation Program for Formators.

Sister Shalini Mulackal, a member of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Union of Sisters) congregation, took over responsibility in mid-2023.

"We are happy to welcome Sister Shalini Mulackal, who will take over the next edition of the program in 2023," said UISG in a message on July 13.

Mulackal succeeds Sister M. Cynthia Reyes, Congregatio Missionalis Sororum Reginae Apostolorum (SRA), who has been the UISG Formators Program Coordinator since 2019.

Vatican Council II served as inspiration for the creation of UISG, which aims to foster closer cooperation among women's congregations of Apostolic Religious Life. It currently consists of 1903 Superiors General globally, distributed among 36 regional organizations.

UISG provides channels for communication between women religious and one another and between them and church authorities and international organizations.

Since 2019, UISG has made the Program for Formators Preparation available to women's religious groups.

It meets the demands of today's formators by preparing them to handle the many difficulties and complications that come with accompanying young women as they undergo training in their congregations.

Through reflection, interaction, and active engagement, the women in the program are involved in their growth through the application of a process-oriented adult learning paradigm.

Mulackal was born into a Syro-Malabar (one of the three Catholic rites in India) household in the southern Indian state of Kerala. 

She joined the Presentation Sisters after completing her Higher Secondary schooling and decided to serve as a missionary in North India.

She earned her master's degree in theology before enrolling in doctoral studies at the University of Madras, where she researched the religious and cultural practices of Catholic women of Dalit ancestry in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvallur District.

She currently teaches systematic theology at the Jesuit-run Vidyajyoti (light of knowledge) College of Theology in Delhi.

She also serves as a guest professor at several other Indian seminaries and theological institutions. She is a member of the Indian Theological Association (ITA), where she previously served as its first female president and vice president.

The nun has also coordinated both the Ecclesia of Women of Asia (EWA) and the Indian Women Theologians Forum (IWTF), both organizations.

She is the director of the Delhi-based Centre for Dalit Studies (CDS). She has written several essays focusing on women's advancement in the church and society.

For Volume 6 of the Dalit Bible commentary series, published by CDS, she penned a commentary on the Minor Prophets from a Dalit viewpoint. In Volume 20 of the same series, she published a second commentary on the Minor Prophets.

Also, for the Indian Theological Association, she edited three publications. Additionally, she frequently gives presentations at national and international conferences, primarily from a feminist angle. She has a deep interest in social issues that affect women and the underprivileged. - Santosh Digal