Foreign nuns educate, provide pastoral care in the Philippines

The Daughters of the Sacred Heart sisters doing ministry in the Philippines are all foreigners, hailing from Malta, India, Kenya, and Vietnam.

Fourteen in total, the nuns advocate for the alleviation of malnutrition and hunger and promote human dignity, according to Sister Marianne Farrugia, the delegate superior and a Maltese national. They provide emergency medical assistance to the needy.

According to Farrugia, the congregation offers scholarships and formal education, particularly to economically challenged youth. They also provide human capital and help build infrastructure.

“Under infrastructure, we ensure we have the facilities needed for our mission,” Farrugia said. “We have constructed the Mount Samat Formation Center in Bataan, where we empower youth through faith formation and value-based living.”

Bataan is a province more than 120 kilometers northwest of Manila.

“At present, our focus is our mission in Manila,” Farrugia added. “This mission house will help us organize our advocacies. We also maintain our existing infrastructure.”

The nuns provide health-related assistance for newborns and children up to six years old, conducting monthly home visits to families, Farrugia said.

The nurse sisters attend to economically disadvantaged families, caring for pregnant women and providing health education for children up to six, explained Sister Jolly Joseph, an Indian member of the congregation. They currently serve ten barangays (villages).

“Every Sunday, we bring parents and children to the convent to teach catechism, pray together, conduct faith formation, play games, and provide snacks,” Joseph shared.

The sisters also conduct feeding programs for street dwellers in Metro Manila. Free meals are typically provided when charitable individuals, families, or groups donate resources.

Joseph noted that the congregation also runs orphanages, clinics, healthcare centers, and schools in other countries.

Three sisters are currently assigned to St. Ignatius Parochial School in Gumaca, a town in Quezon Province, more than 200 kilometers south of Manila. One serves as the school principal, while another works as the school nurse.

As foreigners, the sisters sometimes face language barriers. Despite this, they learn Filipino through day-to-day interaction, especially with children—who are not shy about correcting their mistakes.

The congregation was officially founded in Malta on November 21, 1903, by Maria Teresa Nuzzo, a Maltese woman.

It was in the waters off Malta where St. Paul’s shipwreck occurred during his journey to Rome in 60 AD, an event that led to the spread of Christianity in this small Mediterranean island nation.

The congregation began with only a few women. Today, it has communities in Malta, Italy, India, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, the United States, Wales, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

The sisters arrived in the Philippines in 2009 to share the congregation’s charism of charity in simplicity and humility among Filipinos.

Following in the footsteps of their foundress, the sisters express their love through service in schools, daycare centers, and home visits to children.

The congregation also partners with laypeople—men and women, married and single—who are called the Flames of Love.

To raise funds for their ministries, the sisters make and sell rosaries, religious images, bracelets, and placemats from their house in New Manila, Joseph said. They also offer delivery services when possible.

The nuns are seeking support to sustain their ministries and advocacies in the country.

They believe that beyond giving free meals to street dwellers, especially the youth, there must also be access to employable education or skills training—so they won’t rely on charity forever.

“That is our dream,” said Farrugia. “But since we lack funds, we cannot pursue it fully. We have, however, helped some youth from the Pastoral Care for Children to pursue their education. We’ve also helped others find jobs and supported mothers in starting income-generating projects.”