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Sisters of the Incarnate Word elect new leadership
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January 29, 2016
The IWBS new leadership team is, from left, Sister Marilyn Grace Springs, Sister Colette Brehony, Sister Annette Wagner, Superior General Elect; Sister Maria Irma Gonzalez, Assistant General and Sister Barbara Marie Netek.
Contributed photo
Sister Annette Wagner was elected superior general of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament in Corpus Christi and will begin her four-year term after installation on Friday, June 10. Also elected to the congregation’s leadership team for the term 2016-20 are Sister Maria Irma Gonzalez, councilor and assistant general, and councilors Sister Colette Brehony, Sister Barbara Netek and Sister Marilyn Grace Springs.
The election was held in a process of communal discernment facilitated by Sister Barbara Valuckas, SSND, on Dec. 19-21, 2015. On Saturday, Dec. 19, Bishop Michael Mulvey celebrated the Mass of the Holy Spirit with the sisters, and spoke to them about the chapter being a call to communion, a call to the beauty of life together, a witness and sign of who God is and a witness to the Trinitarian life of God.
“We are called to be a sign to a divided nation that oneness is possible, communion is possible,” he said. "Giving and receiving are the dynamics of Trinitarian life. We all embrace the decision made in discernment, and the Holy Spirit continues to move with us after the elections.”
Each day of the Chapter of Elections began with faith sharing and celebration of the Eucharist. After Mass and lunch on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015 the discernment process for the election of the superior general was completed and balloting took place. When the results of the balloting were announced, Sister Annette accepted the community’s call to serve. A ritual of blessing and greeting by each of the sisters followed in the Motherhouse chapel. The communal discernment process then continued in the election of the four councilors.
Sister Michelle Marie Kuntscher, the current superior general, presided over the election of the incoming superior general and councilors. The community, in prayer for the newly elected leadership team, asked God’s blessing upon them as they witnessed to the presence of the Incarnate Word, in and through their congregation, in the Church and in the world.
Sister Annette currently serves in RCIA and in adult faith formation at St. Pius X Parish in Corpus Christi. She completed terms as director of the Office for Consecrated Life in Corpus Christi under Bishop Edmond Carmody and Bishop Mulvey. She is a contributor to the South Texas Catholic and the religion column for the Brownsville Herald. She has been a presenter for workshops, conferences and retreats for faculty and parish groups. She was a founding teacher and the director of the Pastoral Institute for the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
For more than 30 years, Sister Annette taught in Catholic schools in Brownsville and Corpus Christi. Her ministry within the congregation includes initial and on-going formation, communications, associate director, member of the general council and presenter at international and national Incarnate Word reunions and formation symposiums.
Sister Maria Irma, elected as assistant general, currently serves as director of the Incarnate Word Academy and Villa Maria Language Institute in Brownsville. A former superior general–she served in that office from 2000-2008–she currently serves on the general council of the congregation and will begin her second term in June. She has been a teacher and administrator in Catholic schools in Corpus Christi and Brownsville, served as trustee of Guadalupe Regional Middle School and is on the board of directors for Juan Diego Academy. She serves on the International Reconfiguration Committee, which includes sisters from six Incarnate Word congregations from the U.S. and Mexico who facilitate meetings of the groups seeking union.
Sister Marilyn, also a current member of the general council, is the principal of Incarnate Word Academy in Brownsville. She has been a teacher at various levels since 1981 and IWA principal since 2005. She is a Girl Scout leader of Rio Grande Valley, a board member for Guadalupe Regional Middle School, serves on the chapter planning committee, and is a member of the National Black Catholic Sisters.
Sister Barbara Marie, elected councilor, is currently director of religious education, coordinator of the Acts of Charity, and coordinator for Safe Environment at St. Pius X parish in Corpus Christi. She has served as teacher and principal in Catholic schools in Brownsville and Corpus Christi, directed Camp Corpus Christi for 10 years, was director of Catholic Charities and is a Safe Environment trainer for the Diocese of Corpus Christi. For many years she chaired the Council for Institutes of Consecrated Life in the diocese, and has conducted retreats for adults and children for various parishes. Her congregational ministry includes co-director of Incarnate Word Associates, on-going formation, peace and justice and serving on the general council.
Sister Colette currently serves as sister-in-charge at the Incarnate Word Motherhouse. She has served on the chapter planning committee and the commissions of justice and peace, education and apostolate and on-going formation. She was a teacher and principal in Catholic elementary and middle schools in Brownsville, Corpus Christi and Laredo dioceses; director of religious education, general councilor on the congregation’s leadership team, member of the council of religious in the Laredo area; and mediator for the Nueces County Dispute Resolution Center. Sister’s Colette's committee and board experiences include IWA Foundation vice-president, parish council and finance council in Corpus Christi Cathedral, Christ the King and Blessed Sacrament parishes and a member of the Texas Catholic Conference, the National Catholic Education Association, Pax Christi and the Association for Supervision for Curriculum Development.
